remem.me

Paul greets those in Rome

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God—

long to see them and Fruitfulness

For
I long to see you
so that
I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,
that is,
that you and I may be mutually encouraged
by each other’s faith.
I do not want you to be unaware,
brothers,
how often I planned to come to you
(but have been prevented from visiting until now),
in order that I might have a harvest among you,
just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

Eager to preach the gospel

I am obligated
both to Greeks
and
non-Greeks,
both to the wise
and
the foolish.
That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel
also to you who are in Rome.

The Gospel of Christ

I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because
it is the power of God
for salvation
to everyone who believes,
first to the Jew,
then to the Greek.
For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God
that comes by faith
from start to finish,
just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

The Wrath of God

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven
against all the godlessness
and
wickedness of men who suppress the truth
by their wickedness.
For what may be known about God is plain to them,
because
God has made it plain to them.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities,
His eternal power
and
divine nature,
have been clearly seen,
being understood from His workmanship,
so that
men are without excuse.
For although they knew God,
they neither glorified Him as God
nor gave thanks to Him,
but
they became futile in their thinking
and
darkened in their foolish hearts.

Reasons for the Wrath of God - Mans desire to worship their own religion

Although
they claimed to be wise,
they became fools,
and
exchanged the glory of the immortal God
for images of
mortal man
and
birds
and
animals
and
reptiles.

Abandoned by God- God gave them over

Therefore
God gave them over in the desires of their hearts
to impurity
for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie,
and
worshiped
and
served the creature
rather than the Creator,
who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.

The promised good news

the gospel He promised beforehand
through His prophets
in the Holy Scriptures,
regarding His Son,
who was a descendant of David
according to the flesh,
and
who. through the Spirit of holiness
was declared with power
to be the Son of God
by His resurrection from the dead:
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through Him and on behalf of His name,
we received grace
and
apostleship
to call all those among the Gentiles
to the obedience that comes from faith.
And
you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

God gave them over to dishonorable passions

For this reason
God gave them over to dishonorable passions.
Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
Likewise,
the men abandoned natural relations with women
and
burned with lust for one another.
Men committed indecent acts with other men
and
received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Extent of Man's Sinfulness

Furthermore,
since they did not see fit to acknowledge God,
He gave them up to a depraved mind,
to do what ought not to be done.
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness,
evil,
greed,
and
depravity.
They are full
of envy,
murder,
strife,
deceit,
and
malice.
They are gossips,
slanderers,
God-haters,
insolent,
arrogant,
and boastful.
They invent new forms of evil;
they disobey their parents.
They are senseless,
faithless,
heartless,
merciless.
Although
they know God’s righteous decree
that those who do such things are worthy of death,
they not only continue to do these things,
but
also approve of those who practice them.

Privileges

To all in Rome who are loved by God
and
called to be saints:
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father
and
the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thankfulness and praying for them

First,
I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,
because
your faith is being proclaimed all over the world.
God,
whom I serve with my spirit
in preaching the gospel of His Son,
is my witness
how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times,
asking that now at last
by God’s will
I may succeed in coming to you.