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Romans 1

Paul announces God’s saving power in the gospel, then exposes humanity’s rejection of the Creator and the judgment that follows.

Paul writes to believers in Rome whom he longs to visit, introducing himself as an apostle set apart for God’s Good News concerning Jesus Christ. He thanks God for their faith and hopes they can strengthen one another. Then he states the gospel’s saving power for everyone who believes. The chapter turns to God’s wrath against people who suppress the truth, exchange worship of the Creator for created things, and are given over to degrading desires and wrongdoing.

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1Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God,
2which he promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
3concerning his Son, who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh,
4who was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
5through whom we received grace and apostleship for obedience of faith among all the nations for his name’s sake;
6among whom you are also called to belong to Jesus Christ;
7to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.
9For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers,
10requesting, if by any means now at last I may be prospered by the will of God to come to you.
11For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established;
12that is, that I with you may be encouraged in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.
13Now I don’t desire to have you unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (and was hindered so far), that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.
14I am debtor both to Greeks and to foreigners, both to the wise and to the foolish.
15So as much as is in me, I am eager to preach the Good News to you also who are in Rome.
16For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.
17For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”
18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them.
20For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity, that they may be without excuse.
21Because knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, and didn’t give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.
22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, four-footed animals, and creeping things.
24Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves;
25who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature.
27Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error.
28Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
29being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers,
30backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful;
32who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Romans 1:16This verse states why Paul wants to preach in Rome: the gospel is God’s power to save everyone who believes.
Romans 1:21The refusal to honor and thank God marks the turn from knowledge of the Creator toward darkened understanding.
Romans 1:28God’s giving people over to a corrupt mind connects their refusal to acknowledge him with the wrongdoing that follows.
Where this chapter reaches

Psalm shares the theme that creation displays God’s glory, while Romans stresses human accountability for what creation reveals. Acts shares Paul’s proclamation of the risen Jesus and his mission among the nations; 1 Corinthians also connects the gospel with God’s saving power.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What connection do you see between refusing gratitude in verse 21 and worshiping created things in verse 25?

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How does Paul’s hope for mutual encouragement shape your understanding of his confidence in the gospel?

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Questions people ask about Romans 1

What does “God gave them up” mean in Romans 1?

The phrase describes God’s judgment in handing people over to the desires and distorted thinking tied to their rejection of him. It appears as Paul traces the exchange of God’s truth for a lie. The resulting sexual dishonor and wider wrongdoing show the consequences of that rejection.

What does Romans 1 say about homosexuality?

Verses 26–27 describe women departing from natural sexual relations and men desiring and engaging in sexual acts with men. Paul treats these relations as contrary to God’s created order. The passage discusses desires and conduct within its account of idolatry and judgment; it does not use modern categories of sexual identity.

Why does Paul say he is not ashamed of the gospel?

Paul grounds his confidence in what the gospel does: it is God’s power for salvation for everyone who believes, with priority to the Jew and inclusion of the Greek. Verse 17 connects this saving message with the revelation of God’s righteousness and with life by faith.

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Romans · 16 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).