Romans Chapter 1
Salutation
1 Paul, servant of ChristMessiah Jesus, called to be an apostle, and set apart to deliver the good news 2 God promised through his prophets in the scriptures. 3-5 That news is about his Son, David’s son by descent—physically, and God’s Son by designation—spiritually as to holiness. God powerfully designated him such by raising him from the dead. Through Jesus Christ our Lord we’ve received grace and apostleship for making obedient faith available to Gentiles. 6 Among them you, too, are the called people of Jesus Christ.
7 To God’s loved ones in Rome, called to be holy: grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 1:1-7
Desire to Visit the Romans
8 First, I’m grateful to my God for you, grateful through Jesus Christ because everywhere in the world people are talking about your faith. 9 God’s my witness—that I serve in my spirit for the good news about his Son—I think about you constantly. 10 In my prayers I always plead that, somehow by God’s will, I can eventually come to you. 11 I long to see you so I can share some spiritual gift that will help make you secure in the faith. 12 That way I’ll be encouraged among you by the faith we share. 13 I want you to know that I’ve often intended to come but couldn’t. I’ve wanted to accomplish something among you like I’ve done among the rest of the Gentiles. 14-15 I’m obligated to preach to Gentiles and barbarians, to wise and foolish, and to you in Rome.
Rom 1:8-15
Life by Trust
16 I’m not ashamed of the good news. It’s God’s power for bringing salvation to everybody that trusts, to Jews first and to Gentiles. 17 The good news reveals a goodness that comes from God through a growing trust in him. The scripture says, “A good person will have life by trusting” [Hab 2:4].
Rom 1:16-17
Foolishness of Disbelief
18 God reveals from heaven his displeasure at ungodliness and at unjust people that suppress the truth by their injustice. 19 He does that because what they know about God is evident in them because he made it clear to them. 20 Ever since he created the universe, what he’s created clearly makes visible the invisible things about him, namely his eternal power and divine nature. So people don’t have any excuse. 21 They knew God but didn’t give him his rightful place as God or practice gratitude. They gave themselves over to foolish speculation and their senseless hearts went dark. 22 While they claimed to be smart, they became dumb 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mere mortals, birds, four-footed animals, reptiles.
Rom 1:18-23
God’s Giving People Up
24 So because of lusts in their hearts, God gave them up to unclean behavior—to dishonoring their bodies between themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served what was created instead of the One that created, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 God gave them up to dishonorable desires. Their females exchanged their natural sexual relationships for what’s contrary to nature. 27 Males left their natural sexual relationships with females and burned in lust for other males, males with males, committing shameful acts and receiving in themselves the payback that’s appropriate to their delusion. 28 Even as they didn’t see fit to have God in what they knew, God gave them over to a perverted mind. 29 They were filled with sinfulness, wickedness, greed, malice, jealousy, murder, strife, deception, meanness, gossip, 30 slander, hatred for God, arrogance, boasting, disloyalty, evil scheming, disobedience to parents. 31 They were without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful. 32 They knew God’s standards and knew that people who practice such things deserve to die; but they did them anyway and delighted in people that did them.
Rom 1:24-32