로마서 Chapter 1

Translation: ESV

1

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

Key Message

Paul identifies himself as a servant of Christ and introduces himself as one called and set apart for the gospel.

▸Paul introduces himself first as a 'servant (δοῦλος, doulos),' a word meaning complete sovereign submission.

Paul introduces himself first as a 'servant (δοῦλος, doulos),' a word meaning complete sovereign submission. 'Called to be an apostle' emphasizes that Paul's authority derives not from human selection but from divine calling, and 'set apart' as a perfect passive declares that he was separated for this mission long before. The order of Paul's self-introduction — servant, apostle, one set apart — simultaneously displays his theological humility and sense of mission.

Related Verses

But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,But the Lord said to him, 'Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.'
2

which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,

Key Message

The gospel did not suddenly appear in history but is the fulfillment of what God promised long ago through the prophets.

▸Paul immediately emphasizes that the gospel he proclaims is not a new invention but the fulfillment of the promise prophesied by the Old Testament Scriptures.

3

concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh

Key Message

Jesus was born as a true human being from David's lineage, thereby fulfilling the Messianic prophecy.

▸Paul begins to present the two natures of Jesus.

4

and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

Key Message

The resurrection is God's confirmation, declaring to all the world with power that Jesus is the Son of God.

▸The resurrection is the event by which Jesus was 'declared (ὁρισθέντος, horisthentos)' with power to be the Son of God.

5

through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,

Key Message

True faith manifests itself in obedience, and Paul's mission is to bring all the nations to this obedience of faith.

▸Paul's apostleship is a grace received from Christ.

6

including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

Key Message

The identity of a Christian is grounded in the divine calling of being called to belong to Christ.

▸The saints of the Roman church are included among the Gentiles, and they too are those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

7

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Key Message

To all who are loved by God and called to be saints, grace and peace are given.

▸Paul's greeting is a distinctive Christian form combining the Greek greeting ('chairein') and the Hebrew greeting ('shalom').

8

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.

Key Message

The faith of the Roman saints became a testimony to the whole world, and this is Paul's first subject of thanksgiving.

▸Paul's thanks are offered to God 'through Jesus Christ,' naturally expressing that Christ is the only mediator through whom one approaches God.

9

For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you

Key Message

Paul prayed unceasingly for the Roman church he had never met, and God is the witness of that sincerity.

▸Paul calls God as his witness to confirm that his prayer for the Roman church is sincere.

10

always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

Key Message

Our hopes and plans find their true direction only when sought within God's will.

▸Paul strongly desired to visit Rome, but he places that desire under the condition 'by God's will.

11

For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you —

Key Message

Paul's purpose in visiting is to share a spiritual gift with the saints in order to build them up and make them firm in faith.

▸Paul's reason for wanting to visit Rome is not personal comfort or fame but to build up and strengthen the saints.

12

that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.

Key Message

Within the community of faith, even a mature apostle receives comfort and encouragement from the saints.

▸Paul corrects the one-directional conferral of grace in verse 11, acknowledging that he too will receive encouragement from the Roman saints.

13

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.

Key Message

Hindrances in ministry are also within God's providence, and when God's time comes, closed doors open.

▸Paul honestly says that he had attempted to visit Rome several times but had been continually hindered.

14

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Key Message

One who has received the gospel is a debtor who must proclaim that gospel to all people.

▸Paul describes himself as a 'debtor (ὀφειλέτης)' to all people.

15

So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Key Message

Paul's eagerness to preach the gospel in Rome flows from his consciousness of being a debtor to all people.

▸The logic of verse 14 connects to verse 15: because he is a debtor to all people, he also desires to preach the gospel to the saints in Rome.

16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Key Message

Since the gospel is the power of God that brings actual salvation to all who believe, there is never any cause to be ashamed of it.

▸This verse is the central thesis of the entire Letter to the Romans.

17

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.'

Key Message

The gospel reveals the righteousness of God, and the righteous shall live from beginning to end by faith alone.

▸This verse is the theological heart of Romans.

18

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Key Message

The righteous wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness that suppresses the truth.

▸Having declared the righteousness of God (positive) in verse 17, from verse 18 onward he explains why that righteousness is needed — that is, the wrath of God (negative).

19

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

Key Message

God has given human beings the inner capacity to know him, so no one has any excuse.

▸The reason God's wrath is justified is that people could have known God.

20

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Key Message

Since the created world clearly displays God's eternal power and divine nature, no one can claim ignorance of God as an excuse.

▸The created world is the medium through which God's 'invisible attributes' — his eternal power and divine nature — are revealed.

21

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Key Message

Knowing God but not honoring or giving thanks to him is the beginning of all spiritual corruption.

▸The fundamental sin of humanity is not ignorance but rejection.

22

Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

Key Message

The self-proclaimed wisdom of humanity that rejects the Creator is exposed as foolishness before God.

▸The rebellion of humanity paradoxically comes from the arrogance of considering oneself wise.

23

and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Key Message

Idolatry is the foolish exchange of trading the glory of the eternal God for a perishable creature.

▸The essence of idolatry is exchange (ἤλλαξαν, ēllaxan) — exchanging the glory of the eternal God for the image of a perishable creature.

24

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,

Key Message

Rejecting God results in the judgment of God respecting human choice and leaving them to experience the consequences of sin.

▸'God gave them up (παρέδωκεν, paredōken)' is the act of divine judgment repeated three times in Romans 1 (vv.

25

because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Key Message

Idolatry is the exchange of truth for a lie, yet nevertheless the Lord is forever to be praised.

▸The idolatry of verse 23 is restated theologically.

26

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;

Key Message

Humanity that rejects the Creator comes under a judgment that leads to corruption against the created order.

▸The second 'gave them up (παρέδωκεν)' appears.

27

and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Key Message

Those who reject God experience in themselves the consequences corresponding to their error.

▸'Receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error' shows that sin contains its own punishment within itself.

28

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

Key Message

Refusing to acknowledge God leads to the mind itself becoming debased and becoming the source of all kinds of improper things.

▸This is the third 'gave them up (παρέδωκεν).

29

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,

Key Message

The debased mind that rejects God becomes filled with every kind of evil.

▸Verses 29–31 are a catalog of evils flowing from the debased mind.

30

slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

Key Message

Pride and boastfulness are detestable to God and are the root of all social corruption.

▸The catalog of sins continues.

31

foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Key Message

Humanity that rejects God comes to lose even love and mercy — the fundamental elements of humanness.

▸The final part of the catalog of sins.

32

Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Key Message

The deepest layer of sin is not only doing what one knows is wrong but also giving approval to and encouraging others' sins.

▸This is the culmination of corruption.