Romans 1:18-32
•	New Testament 5
•	Lecture 13
Introduction
The Court is in session!  Romans 1:18 is the door that opens us into God’s courtroom. The theme is righteousness of God, but Paul had to begin with the unrighteousness of men. 
Until a man knows he is a sinner , he cannot appreciate the grace and mercy of God that is offered in JC. 
Paul followed the basic Bible pattern: first Law and then Grace and salvation. Paul will make 3 declarations that prove all men are sinners and need Christ.  
•	The Gentile World is Guilty! 
(1:18-32)	--	
•	4 Stages of Man’s Devolution
Paul paints an ugly world picture here.  Some ______________ in America are to be avoided if at possible.  But my avoiding them does not change the fact they are there.  
Trying to eliminate or avoid God’s description of humanity does not make it go away.  This section does not teach evolution (that man started low and climbed high), but devolution: man started high and sank low because of sin. Four stages mark man’s tragic devolution:
A. Intelligence (1:18-20)
Human history began with man knowing ______________. Human history is not a story of man worshipping______________ and then evolved into worshipping one God.  It is just the opposite.  Man begin with a knowledge of God and then corrupted that knowledge.  He rejected and turned from that knowledge. God revealed Himself through creation, that is, the things He made.  From the world around him, man knew there was a God who created the world. Verse 20 says that man realized that God was eternal.  See Psalms 19:1.
A. Intelligence (1:18-20)
The word “______________” in verse 18 can also mean “to hold down, suppress”. Men knew the truth about God, but they did not allow this truth to work in their lives.  They suppressed it so that they could control their own lives.  The result was refusing the truth (1:21-22) and then turning the truth into a lie (1:25). 
1:18
Paul says that apart from the gospel the world is lost. We may not like the phrase “______________” because we want to sentimentalize God. Wrath – is the strong and continuous reaction of the holy God against evil in every shape and form – a wrath operative now and not only at the Last Judgment, is an essential part of any truly biblical idea of God.
God’s Wrath – 2 Things:
•	God’s wrath is not to be thought of in terms of sinful man’s—as vindictive rage or the emotional reaction of an irritated self-concern. 
•	 God’s wrath is not incompatible with His love. (The opposite of______________ is ______________). Rather, God’s wrath is the obverse of his love—the antagonism of his holy love to all that is evil.
1:19 – the Pagan world
Deserves God’s wrath because it deliberately refused the knowledge of which God provided Himself. This must be general revelation. Creation testifies to God’s ______________and ______________ Man ought to see that and instinctively fall on his knees. 
B. Ignorance (1:21-23)
Man knew God; this is ______________, but he did not want to know God. Instead of being thankful for God’s ______________, man refused to give God thanks and to give God glory.  
Man was willing to use God’s gifts, but not willing to worship and praise God. The Root sin is IDOLATRY!
The result was a empty mind and a darkened heart. 
Man the worshipper 
became man the philosopher, this only resulted in ______________ Paul summarized all Greek history in one dramatic statement: “the times of this ignorance…(Acts 17:30). 
Read 1 Cor 1:18-31 to see more of Paul’s position.
Verse 23
Paul uses traditional biblical language to to portray idolatry:
Psa 106:20 – “They exchange their Glory for an image of a ______________, which eats ______________.”
Jer 2:11 – “Has a nation ever changed its gods? But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols.” 
C. Indulgence (1:24-27)
From idolatry to immorality is one short step.  If man is his own god, then he can do whatever he pleases and fulfill his desires without fear of judgment.  We reach the climax of man’s battle with God’s truth when men exchange the truth for a lie.  
“The ______________” is that man is his own god and he should worship and serve himself and not the Creator.  
This is the lie of Eden. Satan has always wanted the worship that belongs to God (Matt 4:8-10).  In idolatry, Satan receives that worship (1 Cor 10:19-21).
As Seen Above
Paul classifies the sins of Gentiles into two categories:
•	Sins against ______________ (24-27) and 
•	Sins against______________y (28-32).
We can name them sensual sins and anti-social sins—this latter group is what Paul calls “sins of a  reprobate mind”.  This is a mind in which the moral distinctions of right and wrong are blurred and rejected by God. 
The result of self-deification
 is self-indulgence.  The sin that Paul mentions concerning is homosexuality.  
It is repeatedly condemned in Scripture: Gen 18:20ff; 1 Cor 6:9-10; Jude 7.  
Paul calls it “______________”, “unnatural” as well as “______________”.  Men and women were both guilty of this sin.  
What is God’s reaction
to such ignorance and indulgence? God gave them up (1:24; 26). This means He______________them to go on in their sins and reap the sad consequences.
God Gave Them Up
Is as if God, having held his protecting hand over them had suddenly removed it, and they have gotten exactly what they ______________ and ______________. 
The phrase in v 26 is rather difficult to translate into English: “Because people did not approve (______________) God in their thinking, God has given them over to minds that are incapable of approving (______________) what is right.”
Notice that Idolatry
Begins the sequence in this second “______________”. The lusts seen here are sensual and Paul elaborates on homosexuality (26b-27). The Greek words “______________” (against nature) should not be seen as meaning “sex conducted against the nature of the person”, and therefore wrong. The word “nature” follows the Jewish custom, to refer to the natural order as God made it (Gen 19:1-28; Lev 18:22, 20:13; Dt 23:17-18). 
Look at 1:27
 and see that God will let them receive their own due ______________ for their ______________ 
This is the meaning of 1:18 which says that the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven. God’s wrath is not by sending fire from heaven, but by abandoning sinful men to the lustful ways. One more stage exists.
D. Impenitence (1:28-32)
It would seem that when man begins to feel and experience the consequence of his sin, he would repent and turn to God.  
The ______________ is ______________.  Because man was abandoned by God, man became worse. He did not want to retain God in his memory.  
The result is Rom 1:28…
God gave them over to a depraved mind…that is a mind that cannot form right judgments.  
They now abandon themselves to ______________ 
Paul names 24 specific sins, all which are with us today. 
This is not the worst. 
Men then began to lead other men into their sin and open ______________ of God.  Notice how far men have fallen. They began glorifying God, but exchanged His glory for idols. 
He began knowing God and then ends refusing to keep the ______________ of God in his heart and mind. God pronounces the verdict in 1:20…man is without excuse!  
This is ample proof that the lost need salvation. The heathen are sinning against a flood of light (Dan Crawford, British missionary to Africa).
The Focus of 29-32
Is on what might be called “______________” – which is the evil one man does to another man. Idolatry is the root sin and it moves into sexual perversion. Yet this is not the only form it may take. 
Moo Concludes:
“Paul is not minimizing the seriousness of sin. He is implying that people who label sin as ______________ or ______________ or ______________ are doing  great ______________to the morals of society, for eventually, it becomes an acceptable behavior and people are no longer conscious of their sin.” Moo, Encountering Romans, 62. 
Roman Historian Suetonius
In Lives of the Emperors, shows that this very thing was going on in Rome. He says about Julius Caesar, “He was every ______________ man and every ______________ woman.” Tiberius and Nero were said to be even worse.
Paul’s Target in Romans 1:18-3:20