EAGERLY PREACHING TO THE EAGERLY APPROVING (Romans 1:32)
Pastor Tim’s Translation - “…who, while knowing full well the righteous ruling of God (that those who practice such things are worthy of death), not only are doing these things but are also enthusiastically approving those who practice them.”
The book of Romans is known as Paul’s systematic treatment of the gospel over sixteen chapters. Chapters 1-11 lay out an intensive exploration of the teachings of salvation. Chapters 12-16 expound the practical living that results from a correct, Spirit-applied understanding of the teaching in chapters 1-11. All of this is packaged neatly as a missionary letter. I say it is a missionary letter, because (first), Paul says in 1:8-15 that he is longing to get to Rome in order to preach the gospel to them and help them in their understanding of the teachings of salvation. He can’t get to them yet, so he sends this letter to them to prepare them for his coming. I say it is a missionary letter, because (second), he wants the church at Rome to help him get to Spain. So, he also sends this letter to them so that they can know what he preaches and be comfortable supporting him on his way to Spain.
He makes it obvious to them that he is eager to preach the gospel. And he won’t water it down or change it in order to fit in and be popular. He is eager and unashamed to preach the gospel. We also must be willing to stand with Paul. Paul was such an eager and unashamed preacher of the gospel, that he would go to one place and preach the gospel. Some would believe. Others would throw rocks at him. He would get up and dust himself off and go to the next place. He would preach the same message. He wouldn’t tweak it. He wouldn’t water it down. Some would believe. Others would throw him in prison. Once he was out of prison, he would go to the next town, and he would preach the same message. He wouldn’t leave out the hard parts. He wouldn’t beat around the bush. Some would believe. Others would chase him out of town with torches and pitchforks.
He understood that the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing (1 Cor 1:18). But he would not and could not change the message to be less foolish to the perishing. If he changed the message, it would no longer be the power of God to those who are being saved. And that’s what the gospel is. The gospel is a message of good news (that’s what gospel means). And it is good news that IS the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. The message of Christ crucified and resurrected may be foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved by faith, it is the power of God for salvation. How? Because in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.
God requires us to have the same righteousness as Him. However, the bad news is that you and I do not, of ourselves, have the same righteousness as God. That is demonstrated by the Law. One of the great uses of the Law is to demonstrate how unrighteous we are. We are covetous, deceitful, lustful, angry, dishonorable, disobedient, profane, idolatrous, blasphemous creatures; and our lack of righteousness will be judged with eternal death in the Lake of Fire. God, the righteous judge, will have one verdict for every sinner: guilty. That’s the bad news. But the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that God’s own righteousness is available to you by faith in Jesus Christ.
You may be unconvinced. Surely the plight of mankind isn’t that bad, is it? Surely, there must be SOMEONE good from Adam’s race? Surely, SOMEONE must have some righteousness. Surely, SOMEONE has earned heaven. Paul spends the next chapters opening up to us the hopeless plight of man. He’s going to come to a crescendo in 3:9. We have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” That’s the hopeless condition of mankind.
But the gospel gives hope. It lets light shine into the darkness. The gospel tells us about God’s Son, whom He promised beforehand through the prophets in the holy Scriptures (vv. 2), who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh (v. 3), who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ our Lord (v. 4). In other words, there was going to be no righteous man from Adam’s race, so God sent His Son to be born of a virgin in Israel–fully man and fully God–in order that there would be just ONE righteous man. God predestined that man, Jesus, to go to the cross. Jesus was handed over by the Jews to the Romans to put to death. It was an unjust death. The charges were false. He didn’t deserve to be executed. He didn’t deserve to die. But, according to the plan of God, He died. Because Jesus was perfect and blameless, He was able to sacrifice Himself for Adam’s race. Their sins were accounted to Him, and His righteousness is accounted to them. Thus, the good news of the gospel is that the righteousness of Jesus is given to all who believe.
You ask, surely it’s not so bad that God had to crush His one and only Son so that we could have life. Surely, He just came to show us the way. Surely, He just came to be the prime example of the morality God wants us to imitate. Surely, He just came to give us a little help so that we could then pull ourselves up the rest of the way.
That’s not the gospel. The gospel is not about doing. The gospel is about receiving. All you have to do is open up your hand and receive it from God by faith. That’s why Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 in 1:17 - But the righteous shall live by faith. Not by doing. You can’t earn your way into heaven. Your unrighteousness has already earned you hell a thousand times over! No amount of good works can undo that!
You say, “Surely it’s really not that bad. Surely man is on the up and up. He is becoming a better creature. A more noble creature. Surely modern man is better, more educated, and more moral than men were two thousand years ago.
But alas, it is not so. Paul tells us to just look around and see how untrue that is. Romans 1:18 - For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Men and women still suppress the truth about God’s nature and existence. They have exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for all sorts of idols (v. 23). Professing to be wise, they have become fools and made futile speculations. They tamped down on the truth of God and made up all kinds of bizarre things instead.
And God’s wrath has been being revealed from heaven against them all. In His revelation to Moses in Exodus 34:7, God told Moses that He keeps lovingkindness for thousands. He forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. But He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations. His wrath is revealed from heaven, progressively worsening over the generations, until finally He has enough and they are destroyed.
How is God’s wrath revealed from heaven upon them? God gave them over. Three times, Paul writes that God judicially gave individuals and societies over to the lusts of their hearts. Like a dog pulling on the leash, so people pulled against God. So He gave them over to their heart’s desire. Verse 24: sexual impurity. Verse 26: homosexuality. Verse 28: the depraved (unfit) mind. And all of this leads to destruction. It leads, of course, to the destruction of the soul and body forever in Hell. It also leads to the destruction of society over the course of several generations.
One generation sins against God by idolatry. So He gives them over to sexual impurity. That generation teaches this to the next generation. At some point, homosexuality begins to surface more and more. That second generation runs wild with sexual freedom and perversion. The third generation comes along. By that time, sexual impurity is deemed as natural. Homosexuality is totally accepted. The depraved mind is in full view. By the fourth generation, the society is in total disarray and chaos, doing whatever their heart desires.
The depraved mind is given over to those things which are not proper. Verse 29 says that they are filled with all unrighteousness. To be filled means to be controlled by. Being filled with all unrighteousness results in doing unrighteous things. Paul adds some more words to compound the idea. Not only are they filled with unrighteousness, they are filled with wickedness, greed, evil, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice. This leads to them being gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents. They are devoid of understanding, trustworthiness, love, and mercy. Everything that God is, they reject. He is faithful, so they reject faithfulness. He is love, so they reject godly love. He is mercy. So they reject being merciful.
You say, well, surely they are just ignorantly going about their lives, oblivious to the evil that they are doing.
Paul says no. Look at verse 32.
MAIN POINT - Paul says that they continue in…
FULL AWARENESS
Though the last stage of judgment upon a people is the depraved mind that is unfit and rejected, they still know something full well! They have full awareness of what God thinks of all this. While knowing full well the righteous ruling of God. What is that righteous ruling? It is the penalty God has imposed on those who practice these things. What penalty is that? Death. Paul says that those who practice such things are worthy of death. They’re not doing these things out of ignorance! Paul makes this clear! They are following their hearts, which are wicked and deceitful beyond imagining. They possess full awareness that what they are doing is wrong. Though their mind is broken, and their reasoning is upside down, they still know in their heart of hearts that what they are doing is evil. They still know there is a day of judgment coming. As much as they try to ignore it. As much as they try to deny it. It is coming. And they know that they are without excuse.
But they continue in…
FULL ACTION
not only are doing these things
This phrase is part of a larger thought, but we can’t miss what Paul is saying. They are doing these things. Presently. Continuously. In fact, they are so bent on doing these things, that twice in this verse he calls them practitioners of these things. It’s a participle. It’s not just that they practice these things, like “Hey, I’m going to basketball practice. I’m going to music practice. I’m going to depravity practice.” No. It’s not practicing in that way. It’s a participle. They are practitioners of the things that the depraved mind does. A runner is someone who is characterized by running. You probably see them running in the morning or evening. Or both. You probably see them at the track, training there and competing there. You probably expect to see medals and rewards hanging on their walls at home. You probably expect them to know a lot about running: good form, the right shoes, the right clothes, the differences between running on track and sidewalk and dirt. A runner’s life is, to some extent, consumed with running. That’s because that’s what they are: a runner.
A practitioner of the depraved mind is the same way. That’s what they are. That’s what they’re consumed with. They live it. They breathe it. They’re experts in it. Notice Paul also said in the previous list of vices that they’re inventors of evil, that is, they invent new ways to express the evil lusts of their hearts. They’re totally given over to the art of it. And no threat of present or future punishment will deter them from following all the desires of their evil hearts. They know their actions demand justice. They know God’s righteousness requires their death. But they can’t stop themselves. Because that’s what they are: doers of evil, practitioners of such things as characterize the depraved mind.
They have full awareness of God’s penalty.
They continue headlong in full action, heaping up sin for the day of wrath.
Finally, they also give
FULL APPROVAL
but are also enthusiastically approving those who practice them.
This is where Paul has been heading with this verse. They don’t do what they do out of ignorance of God’s judgment or His righteousness. The depraved mind delights in what is evil. The Greek word I’ve translated as ‘enthusiastically approving’ means just that. Hearty approval. They applaud them. In our day, we might say, they ‘celebrate’ them.
This word is used of Paul in Acts 8:1. It says, “He was in hearty agreement with putting Stephen to death.” Same word. Translated as hearty agreement. He wasn’t just standing there guarding the coats impassively. He was heartily approving their execution of Stephen. He was applauding it. He was celebrating the last breaths of that blasphemous man who was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, he was in such hearty agreement with the stoning of Stephen, that Paul also began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison (Acts 8:3).
So here, those of the depraved mind, are so freed from God’s restraint that they go wallow in the mire and celebrate everyone who joins them. Because of their idolatry, God let out the leash and gave them over three times to the lusts of their hearts. Deeper and deeper they have gone. Now, they find themselves free to delight themselves in all the sinful and depraved things their hearts desire. And they celebrate everyone else who does so.
I would dare even say, as we see this play out in our own society, that they do the opposite of celebrating everyone who does not do these things. Even unbelievers who have some common sense and morality left in them, scoff at these things. And they pay the price if they don’t bow the knee and give their stamp of approval.
There are some that we are surprised by. We figured they would go headlong with the crowd. But they stand up, and they say, “I can’t follow you there. I think that’s wrong.” And we, while still recognizing their unbelief, applaud their refusal to participate in sin, as inconsistent as it is. Our message to them is, “Don’t be pressured to follow them into worse iniquity. Turn from your sins completely and come to Christ and receive eternal life.”
There are others that we thought would stand strong, but they have caved to those of the depraved mind. To them, we would plead, “Turn from your sins and turn to Christ and be saved.”
If the depraved treat other unbelievers with contempt when they stand up against the depraved mind, they do worse to the church when we stand upon the Word of God and say, “We cannot approve of these things. These things twist and distort and lie about God’s righteousness.” They are frustrated by us. They condemn us because we cannot and will not heartily approve these things.
Actually, not because we won’t approve of these things. But because we won’t approve of them! Look at the end of verse 32. There actually should not be a ‘them’ there. It’s certainly implied, but Paul didn’t write the word ‘them’ there. He left it at they are also enthusiastically approving those who practice. They want us to celebrate THEM while they do these things. They want us to applaud them! They want us to say how great THEY are! But we can’t! And they call us unloving and unmerciful. They say that we are not like Jesus. They accuse us of hating our neighbors. They call us misogynists. Homophobic. Holier-than-thou Bible thumpers.
Sadly, we see denomination after denomination and church after church succumb to the pressure exerted by those of the depraved mind. They are crumbling quickly. But we, beloved, must always stand on the all-sufficient Word of God and say, “We will not fear what men can do to us. We will fear God.”
Our message to those who are depraved in mind is the same as it is to every person: “You know full well the penalty that God’s justice demands for your sins: death. Cease from your actions. Repent of your approval of sin. Turn to Jesus Christ, who died for sins once and for all, believe in Him and be saved from the penalty of death for your sinful deeds. Then turn and follow the commandments of God to us through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit gifted to you at the moment of salvation. And enjoy God’s gift given to you by mercy and grace through faith: eternal life.
IN CONCLUSION, we are eager to preach the gospel even to those who, having been given over to the depraved mind, eagerly commit and approve of the grossest of immoralities. We are not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God. To the fornicator. To the prostitute. To the homosexual. To the transgender. To the abortionist. To those who have had abortions. To murderers. To drug-addicts. To the satanist. To the gang-member. To the terrorist. To the rapist. To the sex-trafficker. To the pedophile.
There is no one so lost in darkness that Christ can’t bring them to the light. There is no one so sinful that Christ can’t forgive.
If we can’t celebrate the depraved culture in which we live, at least we can celebrate that Christ is a great Savior who can save anyone in this depraved culture who turns to Him in faith and repentance. We are all living examples of that. When we were dead in our sins and transgressions, Christ died for us. Through faith in Him, we have forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Him. The angels of God have celebrated our salvation. We have been accepted and welcomed into God’s presence. We have been transformed: we aren’t who we used to be…we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. We are even adopted into His household. We are now co-heirs with Christ Jesus. We will live in His presence forever. We will see God’s face. We will reign with Christ forever. We will enjoy the New Heavens and New Earth for all eternity. How great a Savior is Jesus Christ!
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