The Whole World is Lost Apart From the Gospel. Romans 1:32
“32) and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” Romans 1:32
When studying the Bible, sometimes you need to step back and grasp the whole Picture. In the Romans 1-6, Paul is on a mission to share the gospel. But before he shares the good news, he first sets out to show that the whole world is lost and worthy of Gods judgment.
Many people have a distorted view of God. They see Him as a God of love, but divorce Him from any thought or notion of eternal judgement or hell. Paul is going to hit this theme really hard in the next two chapters.
In Romans 1:18-32, he makes the case that the whole Gentile world is lost. His arguments in these fourteen verses are compelling. Although all mankind once knew God, they willfully pushed the true God of creation aside and pursued false gods and false moral values.
But don’t be fooled, this did not mean mankind was non-religious. According to verse 25, “they worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” In other words, mankind created religions to accommodate fallen human depravity. It gave an excuse for mankind to play and pray at the same time. They created religions that promoted and accommodated sin and depravity while abandoning the notion of a Holy Creator God.
Such is the case in our world today. Mankind wants to be spiritual, so the void is filled with false teaching and false religions. Some even look and smell Christian. They are wolves in sheep clothing. Others take the big step and turn to spiritism, the occult or other world religions. Satan is eager to fill the religious void within people. His only goal is to deceive them into a Christ-less eternity.
Paul concludes this section in verse 32 by saying, “although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”
Paul presents the case that the Gentile world is locked in outright rebellion against God. People cannot save themselves. Man-made religions are not a pathway to God. They lead to judgement and eternal death. They suppress the truth about God in willful unrighteousness. (See Romans 1:18) This where we have the first mention of Gods wrath.
Paul concludes that the Gentile world is lost, but what about the Jewish people? He tackles that question in the next chapter.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
