Romans 1 Footnotes

1:20 Paul was clear that no one can claim ignorance of God’s existence and power. But at a glance, this verse seems unduly harsh toward remote tribal peoples who have never heard the gospel. God has clearly revealed many of his attributes in the natural world, giving enough information about himself for people to respond to him in some manner. Certainly people cannot know all there is to know about the Creator from observing nature. However, they can know enough to be held accountable for responding to the knowledge. Paul affirmed that God will render just judgment to each person according to whatever light that person received—whether natural revelation, the Jewish law, or the gospel of Christ. No Scripture hints of a second chance to trust in Christ after death; equally, the NT is clear that salvation resides solely in Jesus (Jn 14:6; Ac 4:12). Since God is willing to go to such great lengths to reveal himself and rescue us from sin, then surely we can be confident of his just, loving attitude toward the unevangelized.

1:24 God does not cause people to sin; rather, he may “deliver them over” to their sinful choices, giving them what they want (see vv. 26,28). When they abandon God’s ways, God abandons them—further intensifying their awful condition.

1:26-27 In addressing the issue of homosexuality, Paul appealed to what is “natural” (physis—used in 2:27; 11:21,24; Gl 2:15) to contrast heterosexual relations with same-sex acts. His reasoning is not solely biological, however. The problem is people abandoning God’s created order—the topic in this context (v. 20). Those engaging in homosexuality are not simply abandoning what is “natural,” biologically speaking; they are rejecting the way God intended all of his creation to operate. Paul was saying that humans are created for natural, heterosexual relationships within marriage between one man and one woman—that’s the only kind of sexual relationship the Bible recognizes as acceptable. This is the context within which God greatly blesses sexual experience (Pr 5:15-19; Sg 5:1).