Lessons #33 and 34
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ HCSB = Holman Christian Standard Bible +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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Revealed wrath of God (Rom 1:18-23)
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 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. 21 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. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
We indicated that Apostle Paul had a lengthy introduction to his epistle to the Romans. He ended that introduction in Romans 1:16-17 by indicating that the theme of the epistle is that the gospel reveals God’s righteousness that is certainly obtained by faith in Jesus Christ that should also lead to living a life of righteousness that will please Him. Following the introduction of the theme of the epistle, the apostle immediately began with a discourse about God’s response to unrighteousness that he began in Romans 1:18 and ends in Romans 3:20. His first consideration of God’s response to unrighteousness deals with God’s wrath and punishment for unrighteousness that he expounded in Romans 1:18-32. He expounded the idea of God’s wrath in verses 18 to 23 where he described the target and the reasons for His wrath. God’s wrath as we will note at the right time involves punishment, so the apostle discoursed in Romans 1:24-32 on God’s present punishment for the reasons the apostle stated in the section of Romans 1:18-23.
It is interesting that the apostle followed the introduction of his epistle with a discourse on God’s response to unrighteousness. We say this because, it would seem that after the introduction of the theme of the epistle as God’s righteousness revealed through the gospel that the apostle would have started with a dissertation on God’s righteousness as part of His attribute but that was not the case. This is firstly probably because the righteousness that he was more concerned about is how a person could be in good standing with God and so be a beneficiary of God’s righteousness. Secondly, while the apostle was not particularly concerned with a dissertation on righteousness as an attribute of God, he certainly realized that one way to get us to recognize righteousness as an attribute of God is to see how He reacts to unrighteousness or to acting in a way that contradicts His character. For after all, a point can be emphasized through a negative assertion as well as through positive statement. This being the case, it is appropriate for the apostle to begin his consideration of God’s righteousness by considering His response to unrighteousness found in humans.
Be that as it may, as we have hinted previously, the section before us is concerned first with the origin and target of God’s revealed wrath towards unrighteousness stated in Romans 1:18. This is followed by the reasons for God’s revealed wrath in verses 19 to 23. The section may be summarized as stating that God’s revealed wrath is directed to those who are unrighteous because they rejected clear revelation from God about Himself as evident in their actions and state. Of course, it is important we reduce the summary of the apostle in the section we are about to consider to a message that is applicable to us in our spiritual race. For this reason, the message we believe the Holy Spirit wants us to convey to you as a member of the church of Christ is this: You should avoid rejecting God’s truth communicated to you since that will draw His displeasure towards you. It is important right from the start we be certain that the message is concerned with not giving excuses as to why we should not obey God’s instruction as communicated to us by those with the gift of teaching. I am saying that the message of this section requires that we should not be slothful in our application of God’s word. Once you hear God’s word communicated to you, you are obligated to begin to apply it or to live in accordance with it if you do not want to draw God’s displeasure that He would certainly show you through some kind of punishment or discipline.
Apostle Paul began Romans 1:18 in such a way that indicates he continued with the theme of righteousness of God that he introduced in the preceding section of Romans 1:16-17. His continuation of the topic of God’s righteousness in verse 18 could be understood in one of two ways that convey the sense of continuation. A first interpretation is that the apostle continued in verse 18 with an explanation of the reason of the sentence in verse 17 The righteous will live by faith that is quoted from Habakkuk 2:4. We indicated that the apostle quoted this passage because it contains two aspects of righteousness. There is the recognition of the righteous who is so described because of the person’s relationship with God in that the person is in right standing with God through faith in Jesus Christ. There is also the fact of experience of conforming to God’s righteousness. A person who conforms to God’s righteousness pleases Him. Therefore, the apostle explains the reason it is necessary to live in accordance with God’s righteousness is to avoid His wrath directed towards living unrighteously. A second interpretation takes the continuation introduced in verse 18 as contrasting between pleasing God and displeasing Him leading to His wrath. Both interpretations see verse 18 as continuing the theme of God’s righteousness introduced in the previous section although differently. The reason for the two possible interpretations of the sense of continuation indicated in verse 18 is the use of a Greek conjunction (gar) in verse 18 that has several usages. For example, it can be used as a marker of inference with the meaning “so, then, by all means” or it can be used as a marker of explanation with the meaning “for, you see.” In our verse, it is used as a marker of the explanation for the righteous person to live faithfully to God’s righteousness and so may be translated “for.” Those who interpret verse 18 as continuing the theme of righteousness introduced in preceding section but only in a contrasting manner translated our Greek conjunction with “but” as reflected in the NLT. While both interpretations convey the concept of continuation between the present section and the preceding, it is more likely that the apostle began with an explanation of why the righteous should live faithfully. In other words, the righteous should live faithfully by keeping God’s word so that such a person would escape God’s wrath against unrighteousness.
The main concern of the apostle as he continued with the theme of the righteousness of God is His wrath as in the beginning phrase of Romans 1:18 The wrath of God. The word “wrath” is translated from a Greek word (orgē) translated “anger” in the sense of intense feeling of displeasure with focus on emotional aspect as it is used to describe human anger in Ephesians 4:31:
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
However, the word also means “wrath” in the sense of strong indignation directed at wrongdoing, with focus on retribution. Thus, when the word is used of God it can refer to His indignation as it is used to describe the state of an unbeliever in relation to God in John 3:36:
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”
The sentence God’s wrath remains on him may be translated the indignation of God remains on him. The word in connection with God is used to describe the result of wrath, that is, punishment of sin, as in Romans 4:15:
because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Here in Romans 4:15 “wrath” has the sense of “punishment” as reflected in the NLT or “retribution” as in the REB. The word can mean “judgment” in connection with God. It is in this sense that the Greek word is used in describing God’s future judgment in 1 Thessalonians 1:10:
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
The word “wrath” here has the sense of judgment although in reality this meaning of judgment is not sufficient to convey its meaning with respect to God since the word also is concerned with God’s reaction towards sin. It is probably for this reason that the translators of the NEB used the phrase terrors of judgment in their translation of 1 Thessalonians 1:10. In effect, the meaning “wrath” with respect to God does not refer simply to God’s feelings with respect to sin but also to His action in judging and punishing humans for their sins. Thus, in some context, the word means “punitive judgment.” It is in this sense that the word is used for God’s future punitive judgment in 1 Thessalonians 5:9:
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG suggests that the sentence God did not appoint us to suffer wrath could be translated God has not destined us for punitive judgment; in this way, it is clearer that our Greek word has the meaning of punitive judgment. In our passage of Romans 1:18, the word is used with the meaning “wrath or punishment,” that is, “the punitive outworking of God’s righteous indignation at sin.”
The understanding of the Greek word translated “wrath” to mean “punishment” is in keeping with the general understanding of the word “wrath” when associated with God. We read that God’s wrath led to His punishment of Israel through the Babylonians as stated in 2 Chronicles 36:16–17:
16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.
The idea that God’s wrath leads to punishment or judgment is declared in Job 19:29:
you should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment by the sword, and then you will know that there is judgment.”
The psalmist declared that his disease or sickness is a result of the wrath of God, implying that His wrath is evident in punishment as we read in Psalm 38:3:
Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin.
Prophet Ezekiel communicated that violent weather is an indication of punishment associated with God’s wrath as we read in Ezekiel 13:13:
“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury.
It appears that the apostle wants us to pay special attention to the word “wrath” because of the Greek construction he used in the phrase of Romans 1:18 The wrath of God. The Greek does not have the definite article used in the English translation in that literally the Greek reads wrath of God, but the absence of the definite article is such that the apostle is really definite about the word “wrath.” So, he wants us to focus our attention on the nature of the word he used as it relates to God. This is probably because there is another Greek noun (thymos) that can also mean “wrath”, but the apostle did not use it in Romans 1:18. Nonetheless, the apostle used together these two Greek words that may mean “wrath” in the list of sinful attitudes or acts believers should get rid of in a passage we cited previously, that is, Ephesians 4:31:
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
The word “rage” is translated from the Greek word (thymos) that may mean “wrath” that the apostle did not use in Romans 1:18. The word “anger” is translated from the Greek word (orgē) translated “wrath” in Romans 1:18. The two Greek words translated “rage” and “anger” in the NIV of Ephesians 4:31 have essentially the same meaning of anger but many have labored to distinguish the two words. The first word translated “rage” in the NIV is taken by some to be a more passionate and more temporary form of display of displeasure so that it is considered more of the turbulent commotion, the boiling agitation of the feelings that quickly flares up but also quickly extinguished. While the second Greek word translated “anger” in the NIV of Ephesians 4:31 and “wrath” in Romans 1:18 is considered more abiding and settled habit of the mind that is concerned with displeasure and also with the purpose of revenge. This may well be the case, but it is difficult to draw a sharp distinction between the two words. The most we can say regarding the two Greek words that may mean “wrath” is that the word used in Romans 1:18 is a favored word among the writers of the NT for expressing God’s anger or wrath since it is used more times for God than the Greek word translated “rage” in the NIV of Ephesians 4:31. Hence, it is likely that the Holy Spirit wanted the apostle to focus on wrath as that associated with God instead of humans and so that the readers should pay attention to the wrath of God as it is described in the passage of our study.
In any case, “wrath” the apostle mentioned in Romans 1:18 is associated with or attributed to God or originates from Him so that the apostle wrote wrath of God. However, that is not the only indicator of the fact that the wrath the apostle was concerned originates from God, so he provided a second indicator of the wrath in question being attributed to God or originated in Him in the sentence of Romans 1:18 wrath of God is being revealed from heaven.
The word “heaven” is translated from a Greek word (ouranos) that is used in three ways in the NT. The word may refer to the sky above the earth as it is used in the Lord Jesus’ denouncing the Pharisees and the Sadducees who came to Him demanding a sign, for their ability to carry out crude weather forecast but unable to recognize what Jesus Christ is doing to know that something unique in the plan of God was taking place as we read in Matthew 16:3:
and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
The word may mean the “abode of God and angels” so the word is used by the Lord Jesus to describe the place of residence of God the Father when He commented on Peter’s accurate confession of who He is as recorded in Matthew 16:17:
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
The Lord also indicated that angels reside in heaven according to Matthew 18:10:
“See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
Still another meaning of the Greek word translated “heaven” is an indirect reference to God. It was a practice among the Jews to describe God with the word “heaven.” This we can demonstrate from the mission the Lord Jesus sent His disciples to carry out. Matthew records their mission using the phrase “kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 10:7:
As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’
Luke records similar mission work using the phrase “kingdom of God” in Luke 10:9:
Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’
The message the disciples were to preach as recorded by Matthew and Luke is the same. Matthew’s record is ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Luke’s record is The kingdom of God is near you.’ Clearly, the message is the same so that “heaven” and “God” is interchanged in both passages showing that the word “heaven” may, in some contexts, be an indirect word for “God.” That aside, in our passage of Romans 1:18, the word “heaven” is used in the sense of the “dwelling place of God or the throne of God.” Hence, the phrase of Romans 1:18 from heaven communicates that “wrath” the apostle wrote originates from God or that God Himself expresses His wrath on those who reject Him as evident in rejection of His word.
It is not only that the “wrath” Apostle Paul wrote about in Romans 1:18 originates from God but it is made known to those who live on the planet earth since the apostle wrote The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven.
The word “revealed” is translated from a Greek word (apokalyptō) that means to cause something to be fully known hence, means “to reveal, disclose, bring to light, make fully known.” The word may be used in a general sense of revealing of something, as it is used in revealing of thoughts of people in Luke 2:35:
so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
However, the word is often used especially for divine revelation. Thus, Apostle Paul used the word in asserting that God the Father revealed Jesus Christ to him in Galatians 1:16:
to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man,
Paul, no doubt, has heard about Jesus Christ; otherwise, he would not have been persecuting Christians in Jerusalem prior to his conversion. So, when he said that God revealed His Son in him, he meant that God caused him to know more fully who Jesus Christ is. God caused him to know what he had not known before about Jesus Christ. It is not difficult to understand what Paul meant here in light of the fact that most people on the planet today have heard about Jesus Christ, but they do not fully know who He is; for if they did, they would trust in Him for salvation and so be saved. It is only to those that God makes Jesus Christ fully known who come to faith in Him and so are saved. Anyway, in our passage of Romans 1:18, the Greek word is used in the sense of “to cause something, especially information, that was previously unknown to be fully known, that is, to be revealed.”
There are at least two facts that Apostle Paul wants believers to recognize when he wrote in Romans 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven. First, he wants us to recognize that the punishment that is being made known is from God. This is because the apostle used a passive voice in the Greek of the word translated “revealed.” Why is that it important to know that the punishment that is made known is from God? It is because we live in a world where people do not associate suffering or disaster of any kind as punishment from God. The Holy Spirit wants believers to remain cognizant that punishments that occur to people of this world are from God. These punishments could come in the form of various forms of disasters. Several times, God declared Himself to be the source of disaster. Prophet Amos wrote of God being the cause of disaster as reported to us in the question of Amos 3:6:
When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
Yahweh continued through the prophet to indicate He causes weather problems that lead to economic disasters as we read in Amos 4:6–9:
6 “I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD. 7 “I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up. 8 People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD. 9 “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, I struck them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD.
Our world today is experiencing so much weather disasters and other disasters but majority of the people in the world do not think of these as God’s punishments, but they are His punishments. The point is that the Holy Spirit wants us to recognize that everything that brings about pain in our world is from God as part of His punishment. Second, God the Holy Spirit wants us to recognize from the sentence of Romans 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven that God’s punishment is an ongoing one on this planet. We say this because the apostle used a present tense in the Greek verb translated “revealed.” The present tense is intended to convey that God’s punishment is occurring now and will certainly continue in the future similar to the declaration of the Holy Spirit through the apostle in Ephesians 5:6:
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
The fact we want to emphasize based on the sentence of Romans 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven is that God’s punishment is now taking place and will continue in the future in the form of His final judgment of humans because of sin.
Apostle Paul not only communicated that the punishment revealed he wrote about is from God and that it is continuing but he also revealed the target of God’s revealed punishments. The target of punishments from God is “disregard for Him” in the sense of rejecting His word as indicated in the last clause of Romans 1:18 against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
The primary description of “disregard” for God in the sense of rejecting His word is given in the word “godlessness” that is translated from a Greek word (asebeia) that originally refers generally to contempt for established orders, then in restricted meaning referred to refusal to worship the city gods or refusal to perform religious duty. In effect, the word was then taken to mean a lack of reverence for deity and hallowed institutions as displayed in sacrilegious words and deeds hence means “impiety.” Thus, in our passage of Romans 1:18, the word is used by Apostle Paul to describe a conduct that has no regard for God.
It may be difficult to understand what “ungodliness” or “impiety” means, so the apostle explains it using a second word wickedness. The word “wickedness” is translated from a Greek word (adikia) that may mean “an act that violates standards of right conduct,” that is, “wrong, wrongdoing” as the apostle used it sarcastically with the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 12:13:
How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
The word may mean “harm” as it is used by Apostle Peter to, in effect, apply the spiritual law of sowing and reaping to false teachers as we read in 2 Peter 2:13:
They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
The word may mean “unrighteousness” as that which the believer is cleansed from upon confession of sin as we read in 1 John 1:9:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
In our passage of Romans 1:18, the word refers to “the quality of injustice” and so means “unrighteousness,” that is, “failure to adhere to moral principles, commands, or laws.” This sense of the word makes it clearer that “ungodliness” is concerned with disregard for God’s word that manifests itself in various sinful ways.
We contend that the Greek word translated “wickedness” in Romans 1:18 is intended to elaborate on the Greek word translated “ungodliness.” There are at least two reasons for this interpretation. First, the conjunction “and” in the phrase against all the godlessness and wickedness of men is translated from a Greek conjunction (kai) that is often translated “and” in our English versions as a marker of connection between single words or clauses, but the conjunction has several usages. It may be used as a marker of introduction of a result that comes from what precedes and so may be translated “and then, and so.” It may be used to emphasize a fact as surprising or unexpected or noteworthy, leading to the translation “and yet, and in spite of that, nevertheless.” It may be used as a marker of emphasis where there is a stress on what is said and hence means “indeed, certainly.” It may be used as a marker to indicate an additive relation that is not of equal rank and significance to another clause, in which case, it means “also, likewise.” Still the word may be used as a marker of contrast so that it means “but.” In our passage, it is as a marker of explanation of what preceded its use so that it may be translated “that is” or “namely.” Thus, the Greek conjunction enables us to assert that the word “wickedness” helps to explain what is meant by “godlessness.” A second reason is that the two Greek words translated “godlessness” and “wickedness” are used to translate the same three Hebrew words in the Septuagint, implying that the two words are considered similar to each other as I will demonstrate. The Hebrew word (ḥāmās) that means “violence” that describes the wicked is translated in the Septuagint using the same Greek word translated “godlessness” in Romans 1:18 in Psalm 73:6 (LXX 72:6):
Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.
The same Hebrew word that means “violence” is translated with the Greek word that is translated “wickedness” in Romans 1:18 in the Septuagint of Psalm 11:5 (LXX 10:5):
The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.
The second Hebrew word (ʿāwōn) that means “sin, guilty, wickedness” is translated with the same Greek word translated “godlessness” in Romans 1:18 in the Septuagint of Psalm 32:5 (LXX 31:5):
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”— and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
The same Hebrew word is translated with the Greek word translated “wickedness” in Romans 1:18 in the Septuagint of Hosea 9:7:
The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this. Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired man a maniac.
The third Hebrew word (pěšǎʿ) that means “rebellion, crime, transgression” is translated with the same Greek word translated “godlessness” in Romans 1:18 in the Septuagint of Proverbs 28:13:
He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
The phrase his sins is literally his transgressions. The same Hebrew word that means “rebellion, crime, transgression” is translated with the same Greek word translated “wickedness” in Romans 1:18 in the Septuagint of Exodus 34:7:
maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”
Thus, the fact that the Hebrew words we have cited are each translated with the same two Greek words the apostle used in Romans 1:18 suggests that to a Hebrew person who is knowledgeable with the Greek that the two Greek words are somewhat similar, with the second Greek word translated “wickedness” being more general in describing rejection of God’s word. This understanding may not be clear to a Greek person that the two Greek words used in Romans 1:18 are related that the apostle felt the need to use the second Greek word that is more comprehensive in describing rejection of God and His word to explain the first Greek word translated “godlessness” hence our interpretation that the second Greek word translated “wickedness” the apostle used, is to explain further the first Greek word translated “godlessness.”
Anyhow, the Septuagint helps us to understand better how a Hebrew mind would understand what godlessness means. From the consideration of the Hebrew words translated in the Septuagint with the Greek words used in Romans 1:18 that we considered, we know with certainty that godlessness involves violence, so it is not surprising that the godless Ninevites were asked to repent and give up their violence as recorded in Jonah 3:8:
But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.
Furthermore, our consideration of the Hebrew words and Greek words used in describing “godlessness” and “wickedness” show that rebellion is part of godlessness, but there are two other things we learn about godlessness. It involves being characterized by falsehood as indicated in Psalm 52:3:
You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. Selah
The pronoun “you” refers to the wicked that is characterized by falsehood or deception since the word “falsehood” is translated from a Hebrew word (šěqěr) that also means “deception” although this Hebrew word is translated in the Septuagint with the Greek word (adikia) translated “wickedness” in Romans 1:18. Another thing about the godlessness is that it involves “arrogance” as implied in Psalm 94:4:
They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers are full of boasting.
The pronoun “they” refers to the wicked and so one that is characterized by godlessness. The word “arrogant” is translated from a Hebrew word (ʿāṯāq) that may also mean “stubborn” or “unrestrained” although the Septuagint translated it using the same Greek word (adikia) translated “wickedness” in Romans 1:18. Anyway, it is important to recognize that the apostle not only used the word “godlessness” to describe the target of God’s punishment but he explained “godlessness” in a way that includes the vices we have mentioned. We can state that a Jewish mind would consider godlessness in a sense as a state of soul condition that includes violence, rebellion, and falsehood.
Be that as it may, the apostle’s explanation of godlessness is fully related to humans because of the phrase of the NIV of Romans 1:18 wickedness of men. The word “men” in the 1984 edition of the NIV or in other English versions that are more literal in translation suggests the apostle is concerned with male species of mankind, but he is concerned with all humans that are godless. You see, the word “men” is translated from a Greek word (anthrōpos) that means “a human being” without regard to gender, as Apostle Paul used it to describe the fate of evil doers as stated in Romans 2:9:
There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;
The word may mean “man” as male person as the apostle used it to describe Jesus Christ in His humanity in Romans 5:15:
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
The word may mean “self” as it is used in the instruction of Romans 6:6:
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
The phrase old self is literally old man. The word may mean “person” as that is the way the word is used when the concern is to be inclusive of men and women, as in the doctrine of justification by faith Apostle Paul stated in Galatians 2:16:
know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
Justification is for both men and women so that the phrase a man is to be understood as “a person,” hence the NRSV simply used the phrase a person. In our passage of Romans 1:18, the word is used in the sense of “person,” that is, “a human being.” Since the Greek used the plural, the word “people” or the phrase “human beings” is used in some English versions to translate our Greek word in this verse of Romans 1:18. That aside, the phrase wickedness of men is to be understood as people or humans in general who are characterized by wickedness. Of course, the apostle continued to describe further such individuals in the clause of Romans 1:18 men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
The apostle did not mean that all peoples are in view in what he described. Consequently, he further described or characterized the individuals he had in mind in the clause who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Literally, the Greek reads the (ones) suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. The word “suppress” is translated from a participle of a Greek verb (katechō) that may mean “to confine, bound” as it is used to describe being kept within limits in a confining manner by the law in Romans 7:6:
But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
The word may mean “to possess,” that is; to keep in someone’s possession as the word is used in the oxymoron of Apostle Paul’s spiritual life, he expressed in 2 Corinthians 6:10:
sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
The word may mean “to hold on” as it is used in the command regarding that which is good as given in 1 Thessalonians 5:21:
Test everything. Hold on to the good.
The word may mean “to restrain, check, hold back,” that is, to prevent someone from exercising power as it is used of the restraining of the lawless one in 2 Thessalonians 2:7:
For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
The word may mean “to keep” in the sense of to hold someone back from going away as Apostle Paul used it to describe what his desire was about Onesimus in Philemon 13:
I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel.
In our passage of Romans 1:18, the word is used in the sense of “to hold down,” that is, “to prevent the doing of something.” The apostle used a present tense in the Greek, implying that the people described have formed the habit of holding down or preventing something.
The thing that those described formed the habit of holding down is given in the phrase of Romans 1:18 the truth. The word “truth” is translated from a Greek word (alētheia) with a range of meanings. It may mean the quality of being in accord with what is true hence means “truthfulness, dependability, uprightness in thought and deed”, as it is used for God in Romans 3:7:
Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?”
It is in this sense of being in accord with what is truth that Apostle Paul used it in his commendation of the Corinthians for not letting his boasting about them to Titus to turn out to be empty so that he was not put to shame as stated in 2 Corinthians 7:14:
I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well.
The verbal phrase has proved to be true is more literally has become truth. The Greek word may mean “reality” as opposed to mere appearance, as it is used in Colossians 1:6:
that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.
“Truth” here has the sense of “reality” as opposed to mere appearance. It is for this reason that the translators of the TEV rendered the phrase in all its truth of the NIV as, as it really is. The Greek word that is translated “truth” may mean the content of what is truth and so means “truth.” It is in this sense that the apostle used it to encourage the Ephesians not to be involved with falsehood as they interacted with each other in Ephesians 4:25:
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
The command speak truthfully is literally speak truth. The word is used then especially of the content of Christianity as the ultimate truth. It is in this sense Apostle Paul used it in connection with the gospel in Colossians 1:5:
the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel.
The phrase the word of truth, the gospel is literally the word of truth of the gospel. The rendering of the NIV is quite good because of the Greek syntax of this phrase. In fact, to communicate fully the idea of the Greek construction, we could translate the Greek phrase as the word of truth, that is, the gospel; in this way, it is clearer that the word of “truth” here is a reference to the gospel message. The apostle used the Greek word to refer to the Christian message that includes doctrine and the gospel message in Galatians 5:7:
You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?
“Truth” here in Galatians 5:7 refers to the Christian message the apostle delivered to the Galatians that includes the gospel message, the doctrine of justification by faith, and the doctrine that the filling of the Spirit is by faith. The apostle used the Greek word rendered “truth” as a reference to the body of accepted Christian doctrines that the church is the custodian in 1 Timothy 3:15:
if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
In our passage of Romans 1:18, the word means “truth” in the sense of the “content of what is true, especially of the content of Christianity as the ultimate truth.”
In any case, the apostle described further those who are the objects or targets of the wrath of God as those who strive to prevent God’s truth being spread or applied. God’s truth in the context is multifaceted. It refers to truth about God especially of His nature as the righteous creator that should be worshipped. God’s truth that people often want to hold down is the gospel of Jesus Christ that deals with how to be in right standing with God through faith in Christ. Thus, it is not surprising that Apostle Paul asserted of God’s judgment on the Jews who opposed the spreading of the gospel as stated in 1 Thessalonians 2:16:
in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.
There is more to consider but we are out of time, so let me end by reminding you of the message that we are considering which is: You should avoid rejecting God’s truth communicated to you since that will draw His displeasure towards you.
07/26/24