The Gospel of Grace for the Gentiles
Book of Romans Chapter 1
We should not have any problem believing that the Holy Ghost used the Apostle Paul as the vessel to author this Book of Romans. These things have been argued for years and the early Church decided this was true.
This Book to the Christians living in Rome was written before 60 AD which is within 30 years of the death of our Savior.
Rom 15:25 But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.
Rom 15:26 For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.
Rom 15:27 It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.
The Apostle Paul had many reasons for authoring this great book the most obvious reason is because the Holy Spirit insisted on it and another reason was that Paul intended to go to Rome to be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ and he used this letter as an introduction to his ministry.
The Apostle Paul had a great desire to evangelize Rome and each city on the route from Jerusalem to Rome to ensure the spread of the Gospel.
We should clearly understand that if we are obedient to the Holy Ghost, we will find that it is His job to ensure the success of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Peter was not that Rock; the Lord Jesus Christ is the Rock of our salvation!
At this time, the Church in Rome was a strong Church.
This was a lay church!
In other words this Church had been established solely by the work of the Holy Spirit without the help of the Apostles.
It is very possible that the early Church leaders in Rome had actually witnessed the resurrected Messiah.
They had certainly witnessed the moving of the Holy Spirit that day of Pentecost!
Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Act 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Act 2:6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
Act 2:7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
Act 2:8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Act 2:9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
Act 2:10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Act 2:11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
The "faith" in the work of the Messiah was very strong in Rome at this time!
Rom 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
Rom 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
Rom 1:10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.
I should also mention that this was a Christian Church and had nothing to do with Catholicism which came much, much later.
Within seven years of this letter to the Roman Church, persecution came to this Church because of the Emperor Nero who in a fit of madness tried to burn the city of Rome and he blamed it upon the Christians.
The Book of Romans will show to us the great plan of salvation of Jehovah, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Like Paul we must never be ashamed of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, who has come and who will return to get His Church and then after a set time, show this world how it has failed.
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
We are justified by our "faith" in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation!
Those who remain ignorant of the work of the Messiah will see the wrath of God!
*****Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
What was Paul's mission which is also the mission of every Christian?
Rom 1:5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, "for obedience to the faith among all nations", for his name:
Rom 1:6 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:
Our mission is to be obedient to our faith and that faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation.
We are saved for two purposes which are to be the purposes for each and every true Church.
1) To obey Him!
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
2) To lead others to obey Him!
Joh 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
All other work for the Church comes after this work is established and is working according to the Words of Christ!
All those who reject this obedience will certainly see the wrath of God!
We are saved by the "Grace" of God, which we can understand as "God's Riches At Christ's Expense".
If the Lord is so willing to show us His "Grace", then we should understand that to reject that "Grace" will certainly have a penalty!
Because we all fall under the sin of Adam, which was disobedience, then we are all already subject to the wrath of God!
What two groups will see the wrath of Jehovah?
1) The ungodly!
The ungodly are all those who fail to love Jehovah who also fail to be obedient to Him.
These are all those who put forth no effort to developing a Godly nature.
2) The unrighteous!
The unrighteous are all those who fail to love others. If righteousness is doing all things according to the Word of God, then unrighteousness is doing things that go against the Word of God.
And you cannot be like our President or Ms. Pelosi who use the copout, "I know right from wrong, but I cannot tell others how to live".
All they are saying is, that they are not going to obey the Word of God.
Jesus used these words:
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
This is the mission of the Church!
Obedience; is the key to our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!
Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
How does the Holy Spirit answer our corrupt government?
They know better than to try to make this sort of excuses and everyone else does also!
It is true that there are so many things that we do not know about our Savior and our God.
It is just as true that we know a lot about what He expects of us and much about Him!
Ignorance of our Holy God will never be an excuse!
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
If we seek to know about our Creator, He will show us!
If we do not seek to know about our Creator, He will still show us!
If we choose to not know our Creator, then we have made a conscience determination to reject His truth!
God says that He has planted that information within each of us!
I believe Him!
You will never convince our Creator that you do not know anything about Him!
*****Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
It is a fact that, that the heavens, the earth, and the great oceans and seas reveal that there had to be a Creator.
This world did not happen by some accident and people are foolish to even think we evolved from some accident.
The heavens declare the "Glory" of God!
Our world has become so tuned in to sin, that people will believe anything that goes against the Word of God.
This ignorance of Jehovah has sent far too many to Hell, because they simply accept what a few foolish men present as the truth.
How can we expect a Holy God to extend His hand of "Mercy" and "Grace" to this ignorant world, yet this is exactly what He does!
This "Mercy" will not be extended for very much longer because it is also true, if there is such a Creator, then how can we not expect Him to show His "Wrath" to those who reject the truth.
This is the battle that goes on today, the "Truth of a Holy God" versus the intentional ignorance of a few wicked men who have had their way in the circles of what is no longer even considered true science.
These evolutionists keep presenting the same old debunked fallacies refusing to even correct their lies and they get away with it because to admit they are wrong means there must be a Creator!
What will God do to them? What is God already doing today?
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
You see it is the invisible things of God from the creation of this world that are clearly seen!
Our Creator has revealed enough to us make us realize we did not come about by some gigantic accident.
In fact, most every person alive today cannot tell us one thing good that ever came by accident!
An accident is said to be the results that proceed from an unknown cause or the unusual effect of a known cause.
Accidents are things considered to happen without a design in mind.
To believe in accidents is to reject a Creator whose plan is so great and is so awesome that our pea brains just cannot fathom it!
Yes, it is easy to see that there has to be a Supreme Being behind what we think of as our created world.
There must a "Force" that not only put His creation in place but also Who keeps things working at His own whim!
It takes a vast knowledge of life to create life, life does not happen by accident!
There is a purpose and a meaning to everything our Creator has made, and that purpose is extended to His creatures!
There is a beauty and a majesty in all the things we see!
We do not have to imagine a Creator; we can see the results of His creation!
Psa 97:1 The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.
Psa 97:2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
Psa 97:3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
Psa 97:4 His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled.
Psa 97:5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
Psa 97:6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.
And the Lord God of all creation says even know these things are so easy to see, most people would rather just believe a lie.
You see, if you acknowledge a Creator then you have to acknowledge His Words and His record, He has given to us about His creation!
*****Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
If there is one place in the Word of God that tells us what God thinks of all those who have rejected Him, then this is the place.
We should be truly clear, all those who reject the Word of God and the God of the Bible the Lord Jesus Christ, do so because they have chosen for themselves an idol!
They begin with a failure to praise Him and to thank Him "because they are conscious of their own guilt"!
Those who have ever taken the time to study our vast universe have no doubt that there must be a Creator.
They reject our Creator because our Creator points out their sin.
They even claim to be wiser than our Creator!
This has carried over into our pulpits today where many now claim to be wiser than our Savior.
Why would we be so foolish?
We must realize that when we push God away, He will go away!
When He goes away, we are filled with emptiness and the craving to fill that void is where most every lost person gets into trouble.
They will search the world over to find something to fill this emptiness and it cannot be found!
They will sin with, false gods, idols, drugs, and Satan is ready to receive them into his fold. The Lord Jesus said:
Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Our world has become a place based upon lies and people hate the truth so much that they will reject any and all truth!
What are imaginations? Thoughts, reasonings, deliberations, conclusions, speculations.
That word "vain" means empty, futile, unsuccessful, worthless, senseless.
They become foolish and foolish hearts grow darker daily!
They sometimes become so occupied with trying to pry out the mysteries God existence and reject those things that can be so easily known.
The Word of God teaches us all we need to know to be productive in the eyes of our Creator and He does not try to hide anything so important as our salvation from us!
What more do we need to know to make that choice?
We are all bound for Hell!
God offers us a place called Heaven!
It is not such a hard choice!
We should glorify our Creator relentlessly and surely; we can thank Him for what He has already done!
If we are breathing, we are breathing God's air!
We do not have a clue of what tomorrow may bring, but the Lord Jesus Christ does!
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Jas 4:16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
When we know better and just follow that denying crowd, we only harm ourselves. It does not change what God will do!
God has already taken great pains to explain these things to us!
We do ourselves no justice by becoming fools!
*****Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Rom 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
If we take a hard look at our world, we can truly see the evidence of what God is saying here.
There is a prophesy of the last days that we can readily see today if, you have been around the true Church for any length of time.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Many will tell you that so many of our foolish governments taking advantage of this plague of Covid 19 and shutting down the Church as they have, while having no power to do so have in fact influenced this falling away.
Many who were denied the opportunity to worship have never returned to the Church!
We can say what we want about their salvation, but the fact remains they were in Church and now many are still afraid to return and some just do not return.
There is a "falling away" of those who were at one time were regular to the Church!
My point is our world just gets darker and darker every day.
If any nation rejects all the sinful movements of these liberal minded governments, then they are pushed aside as wicked and evil when it is these liberal governments who are wicked and immoral according to the Word of God.
What is happening? Evilness and wickedness are called good, and God's children are called evil. Just as the Bible says will happen in the last days!
We may not see all the idols today because they are in false houses of worship, but just as this Book of Romans has said, all those that have rejected the Lord and the Word of God, have made themselves to be idols.
And what has our Creator done? He has given them over to uncleanness!
Isa 42:8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
We should ask ourselves, just what is the true reality of our dealings with our Heavenly Father?
Our Creator wants to remove from us our "uncleanness".
The Apostle John said:
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
John was describing a world that had rejected our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Messiah that came down from Heaven.
If you give up or reject the soul saving power of Jehovah, then He will allow you to continue to dishonor your created bodies.
We live in this time called "Grace" but it will not last very much longer.
It is in this period of time that we have been given the opportunity to make a choice!
Joshua said it like this:
Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
In verse eighteen we read that God has already shown us what He will do at the end of the Church Age which is what the Apostle Paul is speaking of.
He will reveal His wrath to all those who serve false gods and idols!
We live in a world where we can see this taking place right before our eyes!
You see God's wrath is revealed from Heaven every day to all those He has given up on.
Now He will never turn down any true request for forgiveness, but our All-knowing God knows those who will choose righteousness and sadly, He also knows all those who never will!
These are things that our Savior does every day!
He gives up on those He knows will never return to Him.
This is why our world gets darker every day!
He has been doing this since the beginning of time!
So Jehovah just says, if you want to do things your way, then so be it, but know that your ending will be an eternity of His wrath.
You see though the world denies the truth of the Word of God, it does not make it any less true!
God rejected all the wicked world in the days of Noah, and He has promised He will do it again.
At the death of everyone who has rejected our Savior, they begin their days of eternal damnation which is what they said they wanted.
Notice how many today believe that Hell is nothing more than a big party place for those who reject Jesus.
Everyone in Hell is now a full believer, but it was too late for them!
When you make sin your god, you will see increased sin until you are engulfed into pure wickedness which is what Satan is, "Pure Wickedness"!
When sin looks good, feels good and taste good, then you are hooked on sin!
The sad part of this is that we are not islands. Our sin affects others!
What happens in the mind of those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ?
*****Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
So what does uncleanness really mean?
Uncleanness means impurity, filthiness, immorality, defilement, pollution, infection, contamination!
These are things we see at the beginning of everyday in the news and at every evening before we go to bed, and we can be sure these things do not stop just because we are asleep.
People serve themselves at the expense of all other people!
This is what idolatry means!
Worshiping a false god is like being in a heavy truck going downhill with no brakes.
There is no way to stop yourself once God gives up on you!
You see sin can only be curtailed by the Holy Spirit!
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
So, we can just imagine, no, we cannot imagine what this world will be like once the Church is taken out of this world.
You see, every believer is home to the Holy Spirit, and He promised to never leave us so, when God calls out His Church, there will not be anyone left behind who is a home to the Holy Spirit.
Those who have rejected the Messiah have made themselves gods!
Just look toward Washington if you want to see a many of these fools.
Everyone who has rejected Jesus think that they can fulfill their own needs.
Everyone who has rejected the Lord Jesus believe that the Messiah will just continue to allow them to live in any fashion they so choose.
Everyone who has rejected the Messiah believe they can choose their own god.
Everyone who has rejected the Messiah, think they can remake Him into something more perfect according to their own minds.
These are all those who allow their loose morals to control their thoughts of what a God should be!
Again we see, God will not tolerate this type of behavior and we see God will allow you to live the way you so choose in this life.
*****Rom 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
So why would God give them up?
They have chosen to reject the truth of the Word of God and live-in uncleanness!
This is a conscious choice! They blame the truth of God for the reason they have made this decision!
Here we see that God did not cause this to happen.
It is that thing called "choice"!
God is not speaking of harlotry or adultery, here.
God is speaking of the unnatural appetite for wickedness in which all normal instincts are left behind.
Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
Eph 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
This takes place not only with women, but for the life of me I will never understand why, but men also!
*****Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Men who reject the marriage.
Men who reject ordinary lusts towards women which is bad enough.
Men who plunge headfirst into total depravity with other men.
Eph 5:12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
Eph 5:13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
These things which have taken place throughout time are paraded down Main Street today, unashamedly!
All these things began with idolatry.
All these things come about because of the rejection of the truth!
All Jehovah told Moses, "they have corrupted themselves"!
The Lord simply says this is the judgment upon all those who do these things.
They have made a spectacle of themselves, so they take advantage of it in a depraved world!
Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
What is our world?
A lost people plunging deeper into their own desires having always someone trying to be pure to blame it on!
The only answer to this depravity is to be "Born Again" into the family of God before you go as far as to be given up on by the Savior Himself!
Jehovah said:
Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man,
The Holy Spirit will only come calling until He gives up on you!
And we already know that many diseases are transmitted in this fashion, but we never hear of these plagues anymore.
So what is a reprobate mind?
*****Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
How can we explain the reprobate mind?
First God did not cause this reprobate mind.
These people have reached this point of sinfulness by themselves and their own choices!
God just simply leaves them in this condition!
They have abandoned their lives to sin and God knowing they will never change, removes any opportunity for "Grace"!
Think of it in terms of a piece of metal that has proved to be worthless by the refiner's fire.
Jer 6:29 The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
Jer 6:30 Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.
Isa 1:22 Thy silver is become dross,
You see these people did not approve to have God in their knowledge, their mind was depraved and perverted by vile passions.
This is the movement that is taking over our world today!
We also call this a sign of the very last days:
Luk 17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
Luk 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
They are full of unrighteousness!
We can understand righteousness as doing things according to the Word of God, they were unrighteous going against all the Word of God!
It was not just fornication it was abnormal sexual activity.
It was not just wickedness it was depravity.
It was not just a craving it for possessions, it was the craving to possess power, fame, and pleasure.
It was not just maliciousness it was with malice and viciousness.
It was not just envy; this word goes far beyond jealousy.
It was not just murder, but a craving to end the life of those who opposed them.
It was not just debate, but was in a dishonest and evil way.
It was not just malignity; it was a complete evil and wicked disposition.
It was not just whisperers but slanderers.
It was not just back biting; it was a loud broadcasting to a lie as the truth.
It was not just haters of God, but the craving to be a living god themself.
It was not being despiteful is was insulting, the spirit of spite.
It was not just pride; it was self-exaltation and arrogance.
It was not just boasting; it was braggarts and boasters.
It was not just inventors of evil, it was inventors of a new depravity.
It was not just being disobedient to parents it is a total disrespect of parental instruction.
It was not just being without understanding, it was senseless, and foolish.
It was not just covenant breakers, it was faithless and treacherous.
It was not just without natural affection; it was heartless without human emotion.
It was not just implacable; it was but an unwillingness to even condone peace.
It was not just unmerciful; it was a craving to satisfy one's own pleasure at the expense of all others.
What do all these things bring?
The "Judgment of God" and they knew it!
*****Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
All those who mention the Lord Jesus Christ, know that there is a "Judgment" coming according to the Word of God.
What are the facts? All those who sin without repentance and all those who just take pleasure in others who do those sins, will be left without the Lord throughout eternity.
They will be "judged" because they have no excuse for their actions claiming to know the truth just will make things worse.
God will not be mocked.
1) They have a complete inner knowledge of Jehovah and admit this is true.
2) They continue in depravity even knowing that this is true.
3) They are in a fellowship with Satan and all other evil doers!
All these who do such things are in league with each other and in league with the Devil!
These things describe our world today and they can be seen in every modern-day nation!
Amen!
