These are the five MORE things I learned from reading Romans 1.

Here's five more things from Romans 1.

Romans, the letter Paul wrote to the church in Rome, has a lot to learn. We don’t have to be Bible scholars to learn from it, here are five MORE things I learned from Romans 1. There is a lot more in there, but this is what I got.

One, “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 Yes, the message of the gospel was preached to the Jews first. Jesus, after all, is a Jew. However, the gospel was sent to all people, and this was proclaimed in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. For example, “…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:3b.

Two, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”” Romans 1:17 This is a historic and important verse. We always see John 3:16 everywhere, but this was the rallying point of the reformers in the 16th century (and up to now).

This means we are to follow God and turn to Him in faith, our own actions can never get us favor with God; they cannot save us. We are saved by the work of Jesus alone, that is grace. Just read this from Ephesians (also written by Paul), “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9.

Three, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” Romans 1:18.

In this verse “men” means all people, and we are all of us being addressed!

If we want to talk about the wrath or judgement of God, we also must talk about the love of God and His love for all people. God most certainly will judge those who hide the truth of His gospel, and who live wanton, destructive lives. But as long as a person is alive, they can be saved! The apostle Paul is a good example, but we must read Acts chapters 6 through 9. There we see the horror of a man named Saul who was killing Christians and raiding churches. Then God’s judgement fell on him and…he was saved! Not only that, but he also wrote the book of Romans. God’s wrath, judgement, and love are all tied together.

Four, “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves”. Romans 1:24. The phrase “gave them up” is repeated in verses 26 and 28-so we must pay attention. If we insist on sinning, God will let us sin, and we will earn the fruit of our sin. In the end though, this fruit is bitter. But God still offers us forgiveness no matter how bitter our fruit.

One more thing, we should never be quick to point out the sin in others until we first deal with our own. “Love the sinner and hate the sin” is biblical, but we must hate our own sin first.

Five, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world”. Romans 1:8 Back up to the top of the chapter. When we live by faith, when we turn away from our sin and reject its fruit, our faith is proclaimed. The best witness for the love and mercy of God is a person who receives that love and mercy and offers it to others. It may be rejected, but it is appealing. Paul knew this and encouraged the church of his day to continue in the faith.

This is not an in-depth study of this chapter but is what I learned from it. We should not be the one to call down the wrath of God, but to proclaim the love and salvation of Jesus. We can see the power of the love of Jesus for each of us in Romans 1, and that is good news!