Romans 1:18-3:20

WHEN GOD GIVES UP
The Gentile World Is Guilty! (1:18–3:20)

Intelligence
(1:18–20)
Human history began with
people knowing God. Human
history is not the story of a beast
that worshipped idols, and then
evolved into a person
worshipping one God.
Human history is just the
opposite: People began knowing
God but turned from the truth
and rejected God.

Ignorance
(1:21–23)
Paul summarized all of Greek
history in one dramatic
statement: “the times of this
ignorance” (Acts 17:30). First
Corinthians 1:18–31 is worth
reading at this point.

Indulgence
(1:24–27)
 From idolatry to immorality is just
one short step. If man is his own
god, then he can do whatever he
pleases and fulfill his desires
without fear of judgment.
 It was “the lie” Satan used in the
garden to lead Eve into sin: “Ye
shall be as gods.”
 Satan has always wanted the
worship that belongs only to God
(Isa. 14:12–15; Matt. 4:8–10), and in
idolatry, he receives that worship (1
Cor. 10:19–21)

Impenitence
(1:28–32)
 When man began to feel the tragic
consequences of his sins, you would
think he would repent and seek God,
but just the opposite was true.
 Because he was abandoned by God, he
could only become worse. Man did not
even want to retain God in his
knowledge! So, “God gave them over”
this time to a “reprobate mind” (Rom.
1:28 KJV), which means a mind that
cannot form right judgments.
Definition:
not feeling regret about
one's sin or sins

TheJewishworldis
Guilty
(2:1–3)
Jews would applaud Paul’s
condemnation of the Gentiles in
Romans 1:18–32.
But, begin with, his discussion of
the law in Romans 2:12–16
would have been more
meaningful to a Jew than to a
Gentile. And in Romans 2:17, he
openly addressed his reader as
“a Jew.”

God’sblessing
(2:4–11)
In Romans 2:6–11, Paul was
not teaching salvation by
character.
He was explaining another
basic principle of God’s
judgment: God judges
according to deeds, just as He
judges according to truth.

“True saving faith
results in obedience and
godly living, even though
there may be occasional
falls.”

Circumcision
(2:25–29)
This was the great mark of the
covenant, and it had its beginning
with Abraham, the father of the
Jewish nation (Gen. 17)
To the Jews, the Gentiles were
“uncircumcised dogs.” The
tragedy is that the Jews depended
on this physical mark instead of
the spiritual reality it represented
(Deut. 10:16; Jer. 9:26; Ezek. 44:9)
.

A true Jew & Christian is one ho has had an
inward spiritual experience in the heart, and not
merely an outward physical operation.
Do we make this same mistake with reference to
baptism or the Lord’s Supper, or even church
membership as the Jews did about circumcision?
Discussion Point

God judges according to “the secrets of men”
(Rom. 2:16), so that He is not impressed
with mere outward formalities.
An obedient Gentile with no circumcision
would be more acceptable than a
disobedient Jew with circumcision.

Paul’s summation
(3:1–8)
In Romans 3:1–8, Paul
summed up the argument and
refuted those Jews who tried to
debate with him.

(1) “What advantage is it to be a Jew or value in
circumcision ?”
Reply: Every advantage, especially possessing the
Word of God;
(2) “Will Jewish unbelief cancel God’s faithfulness?”
Reply: Absolutely not—it establishes it;
(3) “If our sin commends His righteousness, how can
He judge us?”
Reply: We do not do evil that good may come of it.
God judges the world righteously.

TheWhole World
IsGuilty! (3:9–20)
The third declaration was
obvious, for Paul had already
proved (charged) both Jews
and Gentiles to be guilty before
God. Next he declared that all
people were sinners, and
proved it with several
quotations from the Old
Testament.

Reference:
Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3; Eccles. 7:20

Reference:
Isaiah 59:7,8
Psalm 36:1

Romans 1:18-3:20

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Romans 1:18-3:20