Paul’s thesis. Neither wisdom of the Greek nor the law of the Jews can withstand the power of sin, and the presence of sin leads to God’s wrath (1:18).
We have already mentioned that (1) God’s righteousness is revealed in the Gospel and (2) God’s wrath is revealed from heaven. The first one is for the salvation of the believing ones; the second one is against all “impiety and unrighteousness of men” (1:18).
Impiety is the opposite of piety. It refuses to worship God. So it is a rebellion against God.
Unrighteousness negates God’s righteousness. It is a form of life that does not take into account the consequence of sinful living, namely God’s judgement (see Ps 94:3–7; Ezekiel 8:12).
Paul answers this question in following verses. According to him, the Gentiles have all the means to know the existence of God. The existence of the Creator God can be known from His creation (1:19–20). There is no creation without its creator, so it is with the created universe - it also needs to have its Creator (see Gen 1:1–2:4). Thus obvious truth should lead the Gentiles to acknowledge the existence of God. This is a very important passage:
Paul seems to indicate that they actually knew God (1:21), yet this knowledge did not translate itself into worship of God. That is another important point: knowledge of God should lead to worship and thanksgiving. Yet, it did not. The Gentiles refused to do it and what were the consequences?
Connection between idolatry and immorality is expressed in the word “to give up”. Immorality seems to be a punishment for idolatry or a consequence of idolatry. It is God, who gives people up to all those immoral acts (1:24.26.28) as the consequence of not worshipping Him. Such a way of life means “holding the truth in unrighteousness”.
1:32. Paul indicates another thing. The Gentiles did not only refuse to worship God, although they knew Him. They are also aware that their sinful life deserve death penalty. Here, we see the connection between sin and death already evident in Gen 2:16–17 (see 1 Cor 15:56). Yet, they seem do not care. They even ‘encourage’ others to join them in such sinful life.
Paul’s main argument can be called “Jewish hypocrisy”. The Jews preach and teach, but do not do what they preach and teach themselves. Moreover, they are so sure of God’s mercy that they do not care about repentance. They simply misunderstood God’s mercy. It does not dismiss sin; it leads a sinner to a positive change of life.
God’s mercy is given to a sinner as grace and that sinner should accept that grace and use it for their own benefit (see Deut 30:6 - reflecting God’s grace: Deut 5:29; 10:16 - reflecting human effort).
Paul presents to totally different attitudes: God towards humans and humans towards God.
| God | human |
|---|---|
| kindness; forbearance; longsuffering/patience | hardness of heart; impenitent heart; does not care about God’s calling to repentance (Ex 32:9) |
Then, he speaks about the outcome of deeds - God’s judgement:
| Positive | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Deeds | endurance in good work (singular); seeking glory, honor, and immortality | disobeying the truth, obeying unrighteousness, self-seeking |
| God’s Judgment | eternal life, glory, honor, peace | affliction and anguish |
If that is the case, anyone stands condemned before God. That is why Paul quotes latter the Psalm 14:1–3, stating that “there is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom 3:10). The only solution is the Gospel and Jesus Christ. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul told us that Christ is the one delivering us from this day of wrath (1 Thess 1:10). That is why preaching the Gospel is so important; that is why Jesus commissioned the Church to preach the Gospel (Matt 20:18–20; Mark 15:15–16; Luke 24:46–47; John 20:30–31; Acts 1:8).
2:12–15. In this part, Paul indicates that there are two types of laws: (1) natural law - written on the hearts of the Gentiles (see Sirach 17:1–14) and (2) revealed law - written in the tablets and given to the Jews. What is the difference?
In verse 2:15, Paul mentions the word “syneidesis” translated as conscience. It stands as a witness for the Gentiles, either accusing them or excusing them of transgressing the natural law. However, this witness is not all that reliable, because it is formed by our culture, education, values that society holds in esteem. Very often our conscience is not formed according to the standards of the Gospel. The only properly formed conscience is the one formed by the Holy Spirit (Rom 9:1).
The sentence started in verse 17 abruptly ends in verse 20, without being completed. Yes, the Jews have reason to be proud. God lavished them with so much: the law, the knowledge of Him and His will. They knew very well their role in the world, given to them since Abraham (see Gen 18:19). Paul captured the essence of that calling in these four phrases:
Yet, apparently they failed in that role. Again, we have four phrases:
These four statements lead Paul to a final conclusion: because of their hypocrisy the Gentile blaspheme God (see Is 52:5; Ezekiel 36:20–23; 2 Peter 2:2).
If we live in obedience, respecting God and His commandments, God’s name is praised. But, if we live a sinful life, God’s name is blasphemed.
Paul brings here the issue of circumcision, so familiar to us from the letter to the Galatians. The Jews proud themselves in being the descendants of Abraham, possessing the law, and in being circumcised. Yet, Paul has relativized all of these. Here, he refers to circumcision and Jewishness. What is necessary to notice in this part is what can be called ‘spiritual circumcision’ and ‘spiritual Jewishness’. Mere external sign is not enough. What matters is the heart. Paul here draws on the scriptures, which called for the circumcision of hearts (see Deut 10:16; 30:6; Jer 4:4).
That spiritual circumcision was already foreseen by Jeremiah and Ezekiel (see Jer 31:31–33; Ezekiel 36:26–27). This prophecy is fulfilled in the sacrament of baptism: we die to sin and live for God (Rom 6:11), we are adopted children of God filled with the Spirit of Christ (Gal 4:5–6). The best summary of this thought is in Phil 3:3.
This topic is a digression from the present discussion. Paul will deepen it in chapters 9–11. Its main theme is the advantage of being a Jew. What interests us here are the questions asked by a fictional opponent of Paul.
All of these difficult questions are answered appropriately. First and second with negative answer, and the third one with furious anger of the apostle that all who think that way deserve “just judgment” (3:8).
It is interesting to notice in the last verse of this section, what kind of misunderstanding Paul’s gospel brought to some of his fellow Jews. It is phrases in a statement, supposedly preached by Paul: “Let us do evil, that good may come”. This could be related to the fact of Paul insisting with Christ the law came to its end. What would prevent then people from sinning, if there was no law? A valid concern, but not deserving such a shocking slander of Paul’s preaching.