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Scripture Reading: Romans 1

If I had to choose one passage from the Bible that God has used most to change my life, it would be Romans chapter 1.  It’s not my favorite passage in the Bible, because Romans 1 is not particularly cheery or uplifting.  In fact, it contains some of the worst news I’ve ever heard in my life!

But the truth is the gospel is often “bad news” before it’s “good news.”  There’s no reason to put your faith in a Savior unless you realize that there’s something in your life from which you need to be saved.  And that was the case with me:  I didn’t realize there was anything in my life I needed saving from until I read Romans chapter 1.  Then I realized that I, too, needed a Savior.

The book of Romans is actually a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers who lived in Rome.  Paul longed to see them so they could mutually encourage one another in their faith, and so he could reap a harvest among them, bringing still more people to faith in Christ.  He loved preaching about Christ, even though it had landed him in prison many times.  He said:

“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” (Romans 1:16). 

Paul then began to describe the gospel that he loved to preach, starting with the “bad news” that God was revealing His wrath from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness.

As I read through Paul’s words in chapter 1, I was struck by the fact that God’s wrath wasn’t so much that He was raining fire down from heaven, or causing calamity among the people.  His wrath was quite simply this:  giving people up to follow their own sinful desires and choices, and then letting the natural consequences of those choices overtake them.

Three times in Romans 1, Paul describes God’s wrath in similar terms:

“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves…” (Romans 1:24). 

“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions…” (Romans 1:26a). 

“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…”  (Romans 1:28). 

As I read through this list of things people did to dishonor God, I realized that I had done many of them myself.  I  had, as Paul described it so eloquently, “exchanged the truth about God for a lie” (Romans 1:25).  And I, too, was “without excuse” (Romans 1:20b), for I knew in my heart that what I was doing was wrong, if only from the evidence of the natural order of God’s creation itself.

It was the worst news I had ever heard.  I had sinned against God and His wrath was now bearing down heavily upon me, a wrath that threatened to manifest itself in ways that were simply the natural result of the sinful choices I had made.

That’s when I finally realized the “good news” of the gospel:  that God already knew about my sins and had sent His Son to save me from them, if I would put my faith in Him.

Within 24 hours of reading Romans chapter 1, I decided to put my faith in Christ for everything in my life.  I asked Him to forgive me of my sins and to fill me with His Holy Spirit so I could live the life He wanted me to live.  He did exactly what He promised and I’m now on a new path, a path of life that  leads on into eternity.

The whole book of Romans is incredibly thought-provoking, and we’ll revisit some more passages from it later in this series.  I hope you’ll take a chance to read through all of Romans yourself, starting with chapter 1, inviting God to speak to you as you read.  It’s turned me into a believer, and it’s saved me―just as Paul said it would.  The gospel of Jesus Christ really is, “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”

Prayer

Father, thank You for loving us enough to give us the free will to choose Your path or choose our own.  But Father, we pray that You would fill us with Your Spirit again today so that we will always choose to follow You in everything we do, avoiding the wrath that we would otherwise bring upon ourselves.  We put our faith in Christ again today for everything in our lives.  In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Memory Verse

“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” (Romans 1:16, ESV)