March 30, Romans 1
You’ve heard the old routine, “I’ve got good news, and bad news.” That’s how Romans begins. Paul sounded the keynote of the gospel (good news) from the first line. At the midpoint of the chapter, he shifted to the bad news of how desperately wrong the human family has gone in turning away from God. Both the good news and the bad news are revealed by the same message.
It is not easy to appreciate how good the news of the gospel is without some understanding of how bad our situation is without it. We become much more interested in the flight attendant’s instructions about the emergency exits when we realize the airplane is in trouble. The human family’s plane is in a nose dive. When human beings suppress the obvious knowledge of God that is evident in creation, imagining themselves too wise for such “myths,” they turn to unbelief and idolatry. Adrift without a moral compass, there is no limit to the perversity to which humans can and do descend. When the human family chose to exclude God from their thinking, three times Paul said “God gave them up” to the consequences of their choice. These people, made in the image of God, debased and dishonored themselves by refusing to acknowledge him.
The greatest tragedy in this awful picture is that the wrath of God is on such people. It’s bad that their own lives and the lives of people around them are destroyed by their rebellion. But it is especially tragic to contemplate so many people facing the eternal wrath of God.
While humans are not and cannot of themselves be righteous, there is a righteousness of God from faith for faith revealed in the gospel. Those who trust the saving work of Christ are made righteous with God through him. Everything the prophets promised is realized in Jesus Christ. His resurrection stands as the certification that he is who he said he was, the son of David according to the flesh in which he came, but the Son of God according to the Spirit. The gospel calls Jews and Gentiles alike to belong to Jesus Christ, to be set apart and objects of God’s special love and grace.
Paul was eager to get to Rome, to share this good news with people in the Roman capital as he had shared it across the empire. His sense of indebtedness for the grace shown to him made him eager to proclaim the gospel to everyone without reservation, because everyone needs the gospel, and everyone is invited to respond
to it.
These words prompt some self-examination. Ask yourself, “Do I understand how much I need the gospel? Does any part of my life show that I have excluded God from my thinking? Have I trusted Jesus and responded to the gospel in obedient faith? Does my appreciation for God’s grace compel me to share the good news with others who need to hear it?”
From The Abiding Companion: A Friendly
Guide for Your Journey Through the New Testament,
Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—March 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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