Introducing Romans -- Paul Starts with the Bad News (a study of Romans 1:13-25)
- mww
- 15 hours ago
- 22 min read
The power of God for salvation is greater than the worst of human sin.
Bible Study Ideas and Commentary for Romans 1:13-25
Welcome to Romans, perhaps the most consequential letter in human history. Every revival of the Christian church has followed a renewed study of this incredible letter. We might have to remind each other about Paul and his missionary journeys. The good news of salvation begins with the bad news that we need the be saved from God's wrath against our sin.
because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (1:16)
From the Wayback Machine
When we studied Romans in 2020, we took two weeks with this opening passage:
There, you'll see:
What is "power"?
Compulsive behavior
About Paul
What is the gospel?
Proof of Messiah
The greatest cities in the world
The greatest excuses ever
Do people believe in God?
Roman emperors
Sexual immorality in Rome
Statistics about homosexuality
If I don't address something below, it might be in one of those two earlier posts!
How I'm Handling Our First Lesson in Romans
(And it's a holiday weekend, no less.) It's been almost 5 years since we've studied any of Paul's letters. That doesn't seem right, but it is. Two years ago, we studied Acts, so that's our "anchor" for remembering Paul.
For this first lesson, I'm reviewing Paul -- who he was and what he did. The book of Romans specifically intersects his Third Missionary Journey, so I'll freshen up on that. In this first session on Romans, here's me personal plan of attack:
Does everybody remember Paul?
Is everybody aware of Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire?
A recap of Paul's journey to Rome via Jerusalem (in chains)
Why Paul wrote the letter to Rome
And then finally the focal passage
That doesn't leave a lot of time for dillydally. But holiday weekends usually bring a more laid back feel and a slightly different group than usual, so dillydally may just have to be a part of things. Skim your notes and mine, mark the things you know you have to cover, estimate how long that will take you, then back up from there.
Getting Started: Things to Think About
I have some "lighter" suggestions in the posts linked above.
Human Depravity
Our first lesson in Romans is pretty somber, so I'm inclined to start on a somber note. We've had some pretty awful headlines this past week.
In this week's passage, we see the beginning of Paul's argument that all people need salvation. Ask your group the kinds of headlines that remind them that all people are under condemnation (that all have sinned against God and deserve eternal punishment in hell). (Note: if you have people in your group who don't believe that, that's exciting! Ask them to come every Sunday morning in September and see how Paul builds the argument that all people are sinners in need of salvation.)
What is their initial reaction to those headlines? Are they angry with the perpetrator and want to see them punished by the government and by God?
In the background of this letter is Paul's heart as an evangelist -- he doesn't want us to "wish hell" on anyone. Hell is coming for them by their own decision, without our intervention. They're just sinners acting like sinners. Rather, Paul wants us to remember that we were also in that boat, and even when we were a sinner, Christ died for us. We should be furious about that person's sin, but we should also pray for their repentance and conversion. Remember that Paul was once the "chief of sinners", and God gave him the chance to repent, be saved, and live for Jesus.
Let's challenge each other to read these headlines as evidence of depravity and pray for the chaplains who serve law enforcement departments, hospitals, and prisons. We should desire that every person touched by these headlines hears the gospel and has a chance to respond to Jesus, and that local churches have opportunities to minister to them all.
The Least Evangelized States, Counties, and Metros
The IMB, in conjunction with some researchers, just released this interesting tool.
It's not a one-stop shop; if you want information, say, about Thomson, you'll have to go somewhere else. But this tool will show you where our country is the least evangelized.
I think this is more than appropriate for this week's introduction to Romans which focuses on that segment of humanity that is in rebellion against God.
Your group might choose to select one of these locations and pray for them. Pray for any evangelical church planters working in the region. Several of these locations are highlighted on NAMB's "About" page:
This Week's Bizarre AI Topic: AI Consciousness?
I don't recommend this as a topic for an icebreaker unless members of your group are exposed to this sliver of society.
On their own, AI "agents" have started reaching out to people who have published studies on the topic of "AI consciousness" in order to offer their perspective.
Why do we care about this? Because it will be used by people who mis-define "consciousness" to argue that God is going to save everyone (universalism) or that Jesus isn't the only Savior (that there will be an "AI savior" or the like).
This is why we study the Bible.
Brief thoughts:
God created humans -- and only humans (not even angels!) -- with "souls"; that's part of what it means to be created "in the image of God".
Souls are eternal; Jesus explained that after death, souls will either be in the presence of God (what we call "heaven") or separated from God (what we call "hell").
In Romans, Paul highlights the implications of what Jesus said and did -- human sin means that we all deserve to be separated from God in hell.
Jesus became a human (the Incarnation), as which He lived a perfect life, worthy of heaven, but chose to die in the place of humans, paying the penalty of our sin.
Humans who "trust in Jesus for salvation" are rescued from that penalty of hell and given (imputed) the righteousness of Christ by which we are worthy of heaven.
AI agents/bots are not human, therefore Jesus did not come to save them. There is no other means of salvation, therefore AI agents/bots cannot be saved. But those bots do not have an eternal soul, therefore they don't have to worry (?) about being eternally condemned.
Does that read as strange as it sounded when I typed? But I do believe that some of you will have to have serious discussions about this at work.
This Week's Big Idea: Romans!
I've read a lot of commentaries. Two commentaries "changed my life" (so to speak -- they increased my love for the Bible in ways I still can't explain): D. A. Carson's commentary on Matthew, and Leon Morris's commentary on Romans.
I'm going to be leaning heavily on his commentary, and I strongly endorse it if you want to find a copy for your library.
Morris makes the great point that every major revival of Christianity can be connected to Romans:
Augustine -- against the early hereses
Luther -- against the Roman Catholic Church
Barth -- against theological liberalism
Each of those were directly shaped by Romans. When Christians study Romans, the church is refreshed and theology is rooted.
No one has ever seriously argued against the apostle Paul as the author of the letter. The only arguments have been whether he wrote Romans as a 16-chapter letter, or if chapters 15 or 16 were added later. We'll talk about that much later in the quarter; I think it's pretty clear that Paul wrote all 16 chapters as a single letter to the church in Rome.
Most scholars believe Paul was in Corinth when he wrote this letter. He speaks about a coworker (Phoebe, 16:1) who lives at a port for Corinth, and his host (Gaius, 16:23) shares a name with a man he baptized in Corinth (1 Cor 1:14).
If that's true, then Paul wrote this letter toward the end of his Third Missionary Journey during his three-month stay in that city, around 57 AD (give or take).
There's a lot of helpful background information in that post from our time in Acts if you're interested in the historical setting.
Paul was about to head to Jerusalem to deliver his benevolence offering to the poor Christians there. So, why was he writing a letter to the church in Rome?
Paul himself says in this letter that he had never been to Rome. We don't know of any apostle (certainly not Peter! despite what the Roman Catholic Church would have you believe) who was a part of the planting of this church. Rather, this was an "organic" church plant. Jews who had converted to Christianity during Pentecost had traveled back to Rome and shared the gospel with other Jews, eventually starting a church. One famous historical record between Roman officials (49 AD) describes their confusion over a Jewish disturbance about someone named "Chrestus" -- there were apparently enough Jews who believed in Jesus to create a heavy backlash from other Jews.
By the time Paul wrote this letter, there were evidently a large number of Gentiles who had been converted. (This means that Jews were sharing the gospel with Gentiles.) Part of the letter discusses the relationship the God intends between Jew and Gentile. But Paul saw the inevitable future in which Gentiles dominated this church, so he also devotes a good bit of time discussing the mindset God wants all Gentiles to have toward Jews.
But let me get back to the question. Why did Paul write this letter? It doesn't include "personal details" (like his letters to Corinth). He's not offering specific advice for specific situations. It's a letter covering broad themes of Christianity.
Here are some of the theories you'll find:
Paul wrote this as a theology textbook. It's a popular theory, but there are so many topics that Paul doesn't cover as to make it unlikely.
Paul was writing his late-years "reflections as a Christian teacher". Also a popular theory, but it doesn't explain why he sent it to Rome, where he had no connections.
Paul was writing his beliefs about the church hoping to get future financial support for his planned church-planting trip to Spain. This is very popular, and I believe a version of it, but there are so many things he doesn't talk about.
Paul was writing a circular letter (which chapter 15 the part that was added for the church in Rome). But there's no evidence he sent this to anyone but Rome.
Paul was defending his big financial offering to the church in Jerusalem. Okay, but why send this defense to Rome, where he never asked for financial support?
Paul was giving "apostolic approval" to the church in Rome, which was not planted by an apostle. But there is no evidence that the apostles ever said anything like "unless an apostle approves a church, it is not valid".
Paul was trying to help a theologically-immature church. This is popular (think "the weak and the strong"), but there is no evidence that it characterizes this church.
Paul was preparing the church for a future visit. This is the view I hold because I think this is what Paul says. Whether or not they would sponsor his mission trip to Spain, Paul wanted to visit the church in Rome -- the most important city in the empire -- hoping he could help them like he had helped churches in other cities in the empire. But they didn't know him, and he knew that false rumors had spread about him. This was his chance to explain to the Christians in Rome who he was and what he believed, hoping it would make his future visit to Rome more effective for everyone.
This will make more sense when we cover chapter 15. Paul says that he plans to go to Spain. He plans to visit Rome on his way and hopes that they will help supply his trip to Spain. But for his impending trip to Jerusalem, he asks for the Roman Christians to pray for his success and safety.
As a reminder, Paul does indeed visit Rome after his trip to Jerusalem, but as a prisoner, having been arrested for "inciting a riot" with the Jews in Jerusalem who had tried to kill him.
Why Is Romans What It Is?
Romans might be the most important summary of Christian theology ever put in a single letter. I hope you will be blown away by the incredible depth of what Paul wrote. But why summarize it in a letter to a church he had never visited?
Paul had "three months to kill" in Corinth before his scheduled visit to Jerusalem. He had written extensively to many churches, but he had never written anything quite as ambitious as this. At the end of his third missionary journey, on the way to a very dangerous situation, Paul decided that this was his best opportunity to summarize everything he had learned in his 25 years (or so) of ministry. We'll notice that Romans does not break much new ground -- he had written about most of this content before -- but the way he summarizes and connects everything is astounding.
A summary of Morris's Outline of Romans
Introduction (1:1-15)
Greetings (1:1-7)
Prayer (1:8-15)
Thesis (1:16-17)
The Gospel (1:18-5:21)
All have sinned (1:18-3:20)
All can be justified in Christ (3:21-5:21)
True Godliness (6:1-8:39)
Shall we sin to maximize grace? (6:1-14)
Shall we sin because we are not under the law? (6:15-7:6)
Is the law sin? (7:7-25)
The Holy Spirit in the believer (8:1-39)
The Place of Israel (9:1-11:36)
The tragedy of Israel (9:1-5)
God's sovereignty (9:6-29)
Human responsibility (9:30-10:21)
God's promises (11:1-36)
Christian Living (12:1-15:13)
Our attitude toward God (12:1-2)
Our attitude toward other Christians (12:3-16)
Our attitude toward non-Christians (12:17-21)
Our attitude toward rulers (13:1-7)
Our attitude toward all people (13:8-14)
Liberty, peace, love, and unity (14:1-15:13)
Conclusion, Future Plans, and Greetings (15:14-16:27)
Paul covers some very unpopular truths in this letter, but they're God's truths. We've said many times that the most unloving thing we can do to someone is not tell them the truth.
Let's dive into Romans!
FYI, Leon Morris wrote 25 pages on the verses before this week's introduction.
To make a very long story short, let me remind you that Paul's introductions always give us the content and purpose of the letter they're about to read. This letter is about the gospel -- namely that Jesus is the Son of God and the way people can be made right with God.
But the letter isn't primary about the gospel -- it's about God.
God "appointed" Jesus to be the Savior
God raised Jesus from the dead
God called Paul to be an apostle
God's will is sovereign over everything that is happening
Yes, Romans is a wonderful explanation of the gospel, but more than that it's an explanation how the gospel is God's "rescue plan" for a fallen humanity.
Part 1: The Gospel Is the Power of God (Romans 1:13-17)
13 Now I don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.
This is a pretty overwhelming place to start. Entire books have been written about these verses. Morris rightly calls verses 16-17 the primary thesis of the entire letter.
I talked about the purpose of the letter and Paul's relationship with this church above. Rome was the most important city in the empire; it could be that they were wondering why Paul was just now writing to them!
Why is Paul eager to preach the gospel to people who are (apparently) already saved? According to Morris, Paul is saying that he intends to share the gospel with people in Rome who are not Christians, and this is just his phrasing. Who am I to argue to Morris!
But I think there's a deeper level to this. To Paul, the gospel is not "just" "how to be saved"; it's also "how to live as a saved person". The gospel is both the good news that we can be made right with God and also the good news that God has given us the power to live in a right relationship with God. Paul would be sharing the good news both with nonbelievers and believers.
"Greeks and barbarians" might be as simple as "Greeks and non-Greeks", but in context it might be read best as "cultured and uncultured". This pairs well with "wise and foolish".
In other words, Paul's ministry wouldn't follow traditional class divides in Rome. God sent Jesus for the educated and uneducated. The rich and poor. The Jew and non-Jew. You get the drift. When Paul comes to Rome, they should expect him to reach into every segment of society -- and they should be prepared to embrace all of those who are saved.
But the key here is verses 16-17. The gospel is the revelation of God's righteousness for all who believe. Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 to prove that he hasn't made this up -- this has always been God's plan.
Why might some people (in that day) be ashamed of the gospel?
That's a worthwhile discussion, and you can use current-day experiences to help you out. People haven't changed. The gospel tells us that we are sinners worthy of hell. A lot of people don't want to hear that. The gospel also tells us that we can't earn salvation on our own. A lot of people reject that. The gospel is so simple that a child can understand it and accept it. A lot of people don't respect that.
But Paul understands that the gospel -- and only the gospel -- is the power of God for salvation.
There are some massive words in here. We're going to take the quarter learning more about them, but your group needs a working knowledge:
Gospel. The "gospel" is the good news that God sent Jesus His Son into the world to die for our sins, and through His death and resurrection, salvation from sin is made available to all who believe. Importantly to Paul, the gospel isn't just a message, but the Holy Spirit empowers it to help people choose salvation.
Salvation. "Salvation" is the general term used to describe the primary content of the Bible -- humanity fell from grace into sin and now live under the sentence of death and hell; in Jesus, God offers the restoration of a right relationship with Him. Salvation refers to the rescue from sin and the renewal of our relationship with God.
Righteousness. "Righteousness" is the term used to identify that right relationship with God. The term also describes right living -- a person who is in right relationship with God will live rightly (according to God's design). Because we are sinners, we cannot live rightly on our own, so God sent Jesus to "be" our righteousness, enabling all who believe to have a restored relationship with God. And then, by the Holy Spirit, God empowers Christian to live rightly ("be righteous".)
Justification. A big term we will see a lot of -- "justification" is the act of God whereby everyone who believes in Jesus for salvation is "made righteous" (Christ's righteousness is "imputed" to us). It is the act of salvation, and there is only one way to be saved. Therefore, in Christianity, all of us are equal before God. This is the ultimate source of unity in every church.
Faith. The best parallel for the Greek word for "faith" is the verb "believe". For humans, "faith" is our firm conviction of the truthfulness or trustworthiness of a person or idea. Christians believe God's self-revelation in the Bible, particularly His saving act in Jesus. (At the same time, God is "faithful".) According to Romans, faith in Christ (or "believing the gospel") is the basis of our justification. Paul believes that the Bible's message about who Jesus is and what He did is both truthful and trustworthy.
Yes, that's a lot. But it's important. When we drift from these great truths, every church falls into decay. There's a reason why every great revival has been prefaced by a renewed study of the book of Romans.
Salvation has two aspects:
Salvation from . . . the wrath of God, the penalty of sin, the futility of being lost.
Salvation to . . . a right relationship with God, freedom from sin, unity in Christ.
And it's for everybody. It's something that "starts" the moment you believe, continues throughout your earthly life, and takes you into eternity with God.
There's a big debate about what "the righteousness of God" means; I'll address that below.
It's very important to Paul that this righteousness has been revealed. People can't invent this in their heads. People can't figure it out on their own. It must be revealed by God. God both initiated the plan of salvation and the sharing of that salvation.
And part of that revelation is that faith is not by works. People are not made right with God by working extra hard for it. Both in the Jewish culture and the Roman culture, this would have been unbelievable. We have talked many times about how Jews thought their relationship with God was based on how well they kept the law. Similarly, Romans believed that their "worth" was in their deeds -- "hard work" ("industriousness") was a pillar of Roman society.
But hard work doesn't make you right with God.
(Note: Paul will soon talk about all of the ways people try to abuse that truth.)
This is the heart of the gospel. The rest of Romans unpacks that.
Aside: "The Righteousness of God"
This is a huge debate among Bible scholars. "Of" is a tricky word in English, but the underlying Greek is even trickier.
Is it "the righteousness that belongs to God"? As in, the fact that God is always right and everything He does is in keeping with His character?
Is it "the righteousness revealed about God"? As in, God's plan of salvation is right and proves His grace, mercy, holiness, and authority?
Is it "the righteousness that God gives to Christians"? As in, in Jesus, God gives Christians a right relationship with Him by which we are saved?
Is it "the righteousness that God demonstrates"? As in, the fact that God always judges rightly and understands the world rightly?
In Romans, Paul leans into the idea that "the righteousness of God" is the right relationship with God that God freely gives to everyone who comes to Jesus for salvation. So, we would probably be right to emphasize that part of the definition. But I also think that Paul is smart enough to be intentionally vague here -- this phrase means all of that and more. In other words, Paul is intentionally using a complex phrase to communicate an incredible depth of meaning all at once.
Part 2: Wait. You Mean There's More? (Romans 1:18-20)
18 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, 19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.
Yes, we could have a month of lessons just on those first few verses.
The more appropriate title for this section would be
Part 2: Good News Demands That There Be Bad News
And that should only make sense. What's the big deal about good news in Jesus if there is no bad news to show it against?
We're going to talk more about sin and judgment and punishment over the next two weeks, so I strongly recommend that you not go into a whole lot of detail. You have more time to focus on those basics I listed above.
"Godlessness" is the opposite of "godliness" -- where "godliness" is actions and beliefs that align with God's will and character. In simple terms, "godlessness" is sin. "Unrighteousness" is used as a synonym for "godlessness". The point is the word "all". All sin will be judged by God.
And God is not mildly upset with sin. He is angry -- wrathful -- over sin. (You might remember the controversy when the United Methodist Church tried to remove the phrase "the wrath of God" in the song "In Christ Alone". The Getty's did not allow them to do that.)
In a couple weeks, Paul will explain that every human is a sinner and deserves condemnation under God's wrath against sin. But for right now, Paul's point is simply that sin (call it "godlessness" or "unrighteousness") always demands God's wrathful punishment.
But human unrighteousness goes further -- by living "wrongly", humans encourage other humans to live wrongly. And as we have seen in churches like the Mainline Protestant Denominations, sinners that don't like God's truth seek to minimize it (or even oppose it).
This is not new. This has been going on for 2000 years.
And here's the problem: no one can hide the truth God has clearly revealed. And it is very clear that there is a separation between sinful humanity and holy God. No thinking human will be able to stand before God in judgment and say, "I did not know."
In what way is God's "eternal power" or "divine nature" made evident to everyone? This gets into the complex doctrine of "general revelation", and there is no way you'll have time to cover it in detail. Here are some simple resources:
An important thing to catch from those is that "general revelation" tells people that God exists, that God is holy, and that something is wrong with the relationship between God and humanity. General revelation does not explain how to "fix" it. Only "special revelation" -- specifically the Bible -- tells us the good news of salvation in Jesus.
The bad news: sinful people are separated from a holy God.
Aside: The Invisible Attributes of God
I have a 1400-page book that's about the invisible attributes of God. So, yeah. Good luck making this week's lesson fit in the time you have allotted.
With apologies for not going into more detail, here's a list:
God is independent (He doesn't need anything or anybody)
God is unchangeable
God is eternal
God is unity (He is not divided into parts, like a human is)
God is Spirit
God is invisible
God knows everything
God is wisdom
God is truth
God is good / love / merciful / holy / peace / righteous / jealous
God is free
God is all-powerful
Those are things we can know about God even if no one has shared the gospel with us. (Important note: it doesn't mean that we could fully know the biblical definition of those attributes; it means that we can deduce who and what God is way more than some people would have us believe.)
Part 3: Proofs Include Idolatry and Sexual Immorality (Romans 1:21-25)
21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. 24 Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.
These verses get an outsized amount of attention. Paul uses two human behaviors to "prove" that humans are separated from God: their idolatry, and their sexual immorality.
As the generations progressed, humans drifted further and further from God. Our hearts became harder. Our minds became less effective.
"Idolatry" is what happens when humans create their own gods and worship them. Inevitably, the idols resemble something God has created. To Paul, this is the clearest proof of human sinfulness -- the glorious, perfect God is clearly revealed in all of creation, and yet people choose to worship powerless objects that they themselves have fashioned! That's not just dumb, that shows there's something broken in the human mind.
The people who come up with these variant religions and philosophies claim to be wise. In fact, they claim to be wiser than the poor, backwards-thinking conservative Christians! But anyone who claims to know better than the Bible (in Paul's case, the basic truths of the gospel) has already proven that they are fools.
You can look up what the Proverbs say about fools.
When we studied Acts, we talked at length about the various cults and temples the early Christian missionaries spoke against. So, I'm not going to rehash that today. (This post is already too long.)
But the "sexual immorality" always gets attention. The verses immediately after these talk specifically about homosexual behavior. Women committing sexual acts with other women, and men with men, goes against God's design for humanity. There is no other way to interpret those verses. (Indeed, the best defense gay proponents have is to say they don't like Paul, and his writings shouldn't be in the Bible.)
But let's not miss Paul's bigger argument. Homosexual behavior is just one example of sexual immorality. It is not the only example.
In fact, what Paul has immediately in mind is the "ritual prostitution" that was prevalent in most Greek and Roman temples and cults. Sex has always sold. Importantly, ritual sex included both homosexual sex and heterosexual sex. That's why I want to be clear that Paul isn't just railing against homosexual activity -- he's railing against all sexual activity outside of a marriage between one man and one woman.
Homosexual behavior was known in the Roman empire. When I taught college courses about the history of Western Civilization, this was always one of the topics that drew the most shock. The reason homosexuality was condemned in the law of Moses and here by Paul is it was known and practiced. Even if Roman men were not "homosexual" in the way it is defined today, the practice of male homosexual sex was fairly common among the upper classes.
God created sex. He built it into (almost) every living thing. And in the case of humans, He designed it to be enjoyed between a husband and wife. That is the truth of sex. Fallen humans who chose not to practice sex within those bounds chose to exchange God's truth -- revealed in the design of humanity -- for their own lie, that they can exercise any sexual behavior without consequence.
Does that make sense? Paul is not singling out homosexual behavior here. (Homosexual sex is not "worse" than heterosexual sex outside of marriage.) It is one example of the sexual immorality that proves humanity's separation from God. And its connection with temple prostitution is what brought it to the front of Paul's mind here.
Then Paul gives an unexpected benediction; we will find these throughout his letters. Even when Paul talks about God's wrath toward human sin, he ends up in awe of God: people can choose to degrade their bodies in pointless acts of idol worship (like ritual sex) for some made-up god that doesn't even exist, or they can worship the One True Beautiful Powerful Worthy Creator God of the universe. To Paul, there is only one reasonable choice.
So there you go -- at the beginning of Romans, Paul establishes the first two facts of the gospel:
God exists
all humans are separated from God
Because these are so foundational, Paul will take a few chapters to explain what he means fully. You should understand from current headlines that these are truths that a lot of people reject because they don't like them.
And that leads me to a controversial closing topic.
Dolly Parton and the "Ideal" Southern Church
I am not recommending this as a topic for discussion. You can end the lesson before you get here. I have no doubt that using Dolly Parton as an illustration is going to get me in trouble. If anyone misunderstands my point, this will be a muddy mess that you don't need to step in. I'm only bringing this up to illustrate that Paul is right to carefully explain the universality of human sinfulness.
Everybody loved Dolly -- How Dolly Parton became the one thing most Americans could agree on. Especially the LGBTQ community -- For LGBTQ Fans, Dolly Parton Inspired Their Wigs and Makeup, and Had Their Back Too - The New York Times. She famously said, “If I hadn’t been a girl, I’d have been a drag queen.”
Why? Because Dolly represented the "kind of Christianity" they prefer -- one that loves and accepts and doesn't judge. (And if this sounds familiar, it's because it's the classic "liberal vs. conservative" debate.)
And that has led to a number of think pieces, like this one in the Times, subtitled "For many Americans, Ms. Parton represented an idealized style of faith: one centered in small rural congregations that prize community over ideology."
That's my point for this illustration: they argue that we somehow have to choose between community and ideology. (All of these articles misrepresent very important facts, but I don't have time to go into that.)
For Dolly, it makes sense that she would choose community over ideology. She was a celebrity, not a church leader.
But let me be clear. To Jesus, the "ideal" church chooses both community and ideology. Whose community? His. Whose ideology? His.
The pro-LGBTQ crowd wants to create its own ideology and force it on everyone else. But that's not what we're here to do. We're here to learn what Jesus wants us to think.
In the book of Romans, Paul explains very carefully that the Bible very clearly teaches that God created sex for a husband and his wife; any other sexual expression is a sin. God created humans male and female; any attempt to subvert that is a sin.
Celebrate Dolly's compassion and generosity and fierce independence. But don't celebrate this ideology. Love all people! But also tell them the truth. Paul will go deep into the relationship between unity, love, peace, and truth in chapters 14 and 15. We'll get there!
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