The subject before us begins in chapter one, verse 18. Many commentators say that in Romans 1:18-3:20 we see “The Need for the Gospel.” Others have said that we see “God’s Righteousness Revealed in Condemning Sinners.” All humans are sinners and are responsible for the LIGHT (i.e. knowledge of God) they have been given and if they “reject that LIGHT” they will be “without excuse” on Judgment Day. This has been likened to a “courtroom scene” where God, the Righteous and Holy Judge, brings 3 classes of sinners before Him to charge them with sinning against the LIGHT: 1) The HEATHEN who has the “LIGHT of Creation”; 2) The MORALIST who has the “LIGHT of Conscience”; and 3) The RELIGIOUS who have the “LIGHT of God’s Law” (the Ten Commandments).

1) The HEATHEN is described in 1:18-32. They have never heard the Word of God, but they have the “witness of God in Creation” and will be judged for turning a blind eye to this amazing “revelation from God.”  We read of this in verses 18-20, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, WHO SUPPRESS THE TRUTH IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the CREATION OF THE WORLD HIS INVISIBLE ATTRIBUTES ARE CLEARLY SEEN, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that THEY ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE.” On Judgment Day no one will be able to say, “God never revealed Himself to me,” for God has revealed Himself (his POWER and DIVINITY) in “the things that are made.” If you read verses 21-32 you will see how they purposely rejected this knowledge of God and “worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator.”

2) The MORALIST is seen in 2:1-16. This class of sinners is made up of those who look down upon the heathen for their immorality while at the same time are guilty of immorality themselves. We see this in verses 1-3, “Therefore you are INEXCUSEABLE, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for YOU WHO JUDGE PRACTICE THE SAME THINGS. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same thing, that you will escape the judgment of God?” Verses 4-16 go on to show them that they will be judged “according to their deeds” (verse 6). They too may not have heard of God’s Law but verses 12 & 15 goes on to say, “(For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law…THEIR CONSCIENCE ALSO BEARING THEM WITNESS…THEIR THOUGHTS ACCUSING  OR ELSE EXCUSING THEM) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.”

3) The RELIGIOUS person before us in 2:17-24. At the time of this writing, it is the Jew, who had been given the “Law of Moses,” that is GUILTY BEFORE GOD for believing they will be “exempt from God’s judgment” for being the recipients of the Ten Commandments and then thinking they were “keeping the Law.” They are condemned in the following words: “Indeed you are called a Jew, and REST IN THE LAW, and make your boast in God, and know His will…and are CONFIDENT THAT YOU ARE A GUIDE TO THE BLIND…You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law” (verses 17—19, 21-23). In short, they are HYPOCRITES in “teaching the law to others and breaking it themselves,” all the while “trusting in the law” instead of being “convicted by the law” and seeing they are lost sinners. In verses 25-29 we see they also trusted in CIRCUMCISION to make themselves righteous before God, a “religious rite” that could not save them (just like the religious person today trusts in baptism, confirmation, and partaking of the Lord’s Supper to save them”

In closing, the Apostle Paul brings all 3 classes together in chapter 3 to show that “both Jew and Greeks are all under sin.”  In other words, God has proven, as the Righteous Judge, that ALL MEN are in bondage to sin. In verses 10-18 he quotes from many passages in the Old Testament to show the sinful character of all men. You may be thinking, “But those verses speak of the Jews who were under the Law of Moses.” Yes, but when God tested the Jew who was under the Law, He was testing all men. They were a “SAMPLE of the human race” and their failure is applied to all men. “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and ALL THE WORLD MAY BECOME GUILTY BEFORE GOD” (verse 19). Paul ends this “courtroom scene” by saying, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, FOR BY THE LAW IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN.” The Law was given to “convict men of their sin” and to show them their need of a Savior! I would encourage you to read on in verses 21-26 to see how God has provided a way to JUSTIFY GUILTY SINNERS through “faith in Jesus Christ.”  (DO)  (719.1)