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Greetings to readers (1–7). The reason and purpose of writing the message (8–17). Theme of the message: the revelation in the Gospel of the righteousness of God and the first proof that outside the Gospel people are subject only to the wrath of God (18-32). Rom.1:1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called an Apostle, chosen for the gospel of God, The message begins with an extensive greeting addressed to the readers. Here the Apostle speaks of his right to address the Romans with a message. He is an Apostle called by Christ and received certain powers from Him to preach the Gospel to all nations. "Slave of Jesus Christ". All Christians are slaves of Christ, who is their Redeemer and Master (2 Pet 2:1). But Ap. Paul probably here calls himself a “servant of Christ” in a special sense, as chosen by Christ for a special service, as the closest and direct executor of Christ’s commands. This is how Moses calls himself a servant of God (Num. 12:7 et seq.). Elsewhere in Ap. Paul denotes his same relationship to Christ with the terms υπηρέτης (1 Cor 4:1), διάκονος (1 Cor 3:5), οικονόμος (1 Cor 4 et seq.). Wed. Phil 1:1, where the Apostle gives himself and Timothy the title of servants of Christ, calling other Christians simply saints. "Called Apostle". In the primal Church, apostles were sometimes called wandering preachers of the Gospel, who, however, did not receive authority from Christ (2 Cor 11:5, 13, 23, 12:11) or from any Church. Ap. Paul is not like that: he received a special calling (κλητός) to be an apostle, received from Christ Himself and was recognized as a true apostle of Christ by representatives of the Church (cf. Gal 2:7-10). This, of course, was announced by Paul's friends in Rome (Rom. 16:3, 7, 13). "Chosen to the Gospel of God". An apostle is a person set apart to preach the good news that comes from God. He is separated, freed by God from all other duties and concerns so that he can completely devote himself to the great work of preaching entrusted to him (the expression αφορισμένος means “separated” - the same as the Hebrew word persha, in Greek transcription - φαρισαίος. Paul is a Pharisee - in the highest sense of the word: he separated himself and in Christianity from all ordinary activities and concerns, as he separated himself from the common people, being a Jew and at the same time a strict Pharisee). He is called to be the Apostle of God's new revelation - about the salvation of people. His teaching is not human, but God's. Rom.1:2. which God promised before through His prophets in the holy scriptures, "Which God promised before." Wanting to assure the Romans that the Gospel which he, as an Apostle, preaches is not a human doctrine, but a message of Divine origin, Paul says that it was foretold by God Himself through His prophets in the holy scriptures. Readers already knew, of course, that Christ and the apostles pointed to the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies in the New Testament (see Luke 4:17–21; Matthew 11:5; Isaiah 60 et seq.; Matthew 12:17–21; Isaiah 42:1–4, etc.). Paul, no doubt, does not want to repeat this thought here. He only points out that the scriptures in which the coming of the New Testament is foreshadowed are holy, that is, they do not contain errors: they must also be believed in what they say about the Kingdom of Christ... Rom.1:3. about His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh "About His Son". The good news that God now offers to people through His messengers, the apostles, has as its main subject or - better - its central point, around which everything else contained in the Gospel revolves, the Son of God. In what sense is Christ here called the Son of God? Since here the Son of God is called the main subject of the Gospel, that is, of the apostolic sermon, and since this sermon has as its subject the Son of God in general - first in the state before the incarnation, and then as incarnate, we can conclude that Paul here used this expression in a general and broad sense, as embracing and pre-eternal existence of the Son of God, and His life on earth. He was always and remained the true Son of God even in a state of humiliation, the Only Begotten Son 8. "Who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh." But although Christ was the Son of God, He appeared on earth as a man, taking on human flesh and blood (the expression “according to the flesh” complements the expression “from the seed,” that is, from the descendants of David). – The apostle speaks about the miraculousness of the conception of Christ in Romans 8:3 and in 2 Corinthians 5:21, where they talk about the sinlessness of Christ. In fact, if Christ had only been called by Paul the Son of God in a non-proper sense, if Paul had believed that His father was Joseph, and not God, then he could not consider Christ free from the hereditary sin of Adam. – It is remarkable that the most detailed information about the miraculous supernatural birth of Christ is reported by employee Ap. Paul, St. Luke. Rom.1:4. and was revealed to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, through the resurrection from the dead, through Jesus Christ our Lord, “And He was revealed as the Son of God.” Some of the newest interpreters, based on the meaning used here in Greek. In the text of the verb ορίζειν, which supposedly contains an indication of some change occurring in the person to which this verb refers, it is believed that here we are talking about a change in the human nature of Christ into a glorified, divine one, for which Christ prayed to the Father before his death (John 17:5). But, according to the interpretation of the ancient Fathers of the Church and other church interpreters, the Apostle says here only that from the time of the resurrection of Christ, His dignity as the Son of God, previously unclear even by His apostles, became clear to everyone. “The face of the Lord was finally revealed, and all who saw it by faith exclaimed with Thomas: My Lord and my God!” (Bishop Theophan). And how this was determined - the Apostle goes on to say - “in power” - that is, after the resurrection the Lord appeared as mighty to save (Isaiah 63:1). Previously He was in a state of weakness (2 Cor 13:4; Heb 2:14, 5:2). “According to the spirit of holiness,” that is, the glorification of Christ as the God-man, had as its internal, effective cause His perfect holiness, which the Apostle speaks of in the last chapter. to the Hebrews (Heb.9:14). Since in the Old Testament it was also stated that the saint of God would not undergo corruption after death (Ps. 15:10), the perfect holiness of Christ also excluded the possibility of the decomposition of His body after death, and Christ, as completely alien to corruption, had to be healed miraculously, in an instant, when the hour of His resurrection struck. Thus, the glorification of Christ in the act of resurrection was completely consistent with His perfect holiness, which was not eclipsed for a minute by anything during Christ’s earthly life. “Through the resurrection from the dead,” that is, from the time (εξ) of the resurrection from the dead. The resurrection for Christ was the first (in time) discovery of His glorification as the God-man. "About Jesus Christ our Lord". These words form an appendix to the expression of the 3rd article: “about His Son.” – About the glorification of Christ, which, so to speak, brought Him out of the narrow circle of Jewish nationality (Rom. 15:8). The Apostle speaks in order to make it clear to the Roman Christians that he, Paul, was called by the glorified Christ, who through this glorification entered into a relationship with all humanity and, consequently, produced Paul in the same way as the Apostle for all the nations of the earth. Rom.1:5. through whom we have received grace and apostleship, that in His name we might bring all nations under faith, "Through whom we have received grace and apostleship". The Greeks often replaced singular pronouns with plurals. This was done in those cases where the personality of the speaker was relegated to the background, and when, first of all, it was desirable to expose the very deed committed by the personality. So the Apostle here speaks, therefore, only about himself alone, as an apostle, appointed mainly to convert the pagans to the Church of Christ 9. - “Grace”, i.e. saving grace, which was poured out on Paul on the day of his conversion to Christ (explanation of the word - Rom 3:24). - “Apostleship” is a special grace-filled ministry that consisted in bringing salvation to the whole world. - In order to subdue all nations to faith in His name, - more precisely from the Greek: “to produce obedience to faith among all nations for the glory of His name.” By faith it is better to understand preaching about faith (cf. Acts 6:7: “many obeyed faith”). "Peoples". Greek the word έθνη can be translated by the expression peoples, but both in the Old Testament (Gen. 12:3; Isa. 14:6), and in the New (Acts 9:15, 11:1; Gal. 1:16; Eph. 2:11 and in our epistle: Rom. 2:14, 15, 3:29, 11:13, 15:9, 11) it is also used as a special technical term to designate pagans, and here this expression undoubtedly has the same meaning 10. - “In His name.” These words (in Greek: υπέρ του ονόμ in honor of His, Christ, name) recall the words of Christ to Ananias about Paul: “he is my chosen vessel, to proclaim my name before the nations” (Acts 9:15). Rom.1:6. among whom are you also, called by Jesus Christ, “Among whom are you also, who have been called by Jesus Christ.” By this the Apostle indicates his right to address the Roman Christians with a message. He is the Apostle of the Gentiles, and they were also Gentiles, and thus Paul is obliged to take care of them, and they must obey him. And he is called by Christ (v. 1), and they are also called by Christ (κλιτοί Ι. Χ.) - They have the same Master with Paul, and if Paul serves Him as an Apostle, then the Romans should serve Christ as obedient children of the Apostle. Rom.1:7. To all the beloved of God who are in Rome, the called saints: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. "Everyone". With this addition, Paul expands the circle of people to whom he sends his message. It is obvious that there were also Jewish Christians in Rome. - “Beloved of God.” God loves all people (John 3:16), but in relation to unbelievers, God’s love can only be pity, and not the close inner communication in which God is with His children - believers. - “Called Saints”. He calls Christians this way in order to show that they are holy, that is, separated from the sinful world by the calling of God, which serves as a guarantee for them of the strength of this holiness. - “Grace and peace to you.” By grace here we should understand the love of God, which manifests itself in more and more new discoveries among believers; peace is the feeling of complete mental peace that a person receives from the consciousness of his reconciliation with God. – From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The love of God and the love of Christ are different: one is the love of the Father, this is the love of a brother. Christ loves people with his love (Rom 5:15). Showing that the giver of gifts is not only the Father, but also the Son, the Apostle, according to the explanation of the blessed one. Theodoret, “teaches us the equality of the Father and the Son.” Rom.1:8. First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. The Apostle is prompted to write to the Romans by his love for them, as well as by the consciousness of his duty that he has towards them as an Apostle and teacher of the pagans. This message has the goal of strengthening the Romans in the Christian faith and life. It replaces oral conversation, which the Apostle would like to conduct with the Romans, but could not hitherto. If they think that he has not come to them until now because he was embarrassed to preach about the crucified Christ in the capital of the world, then they are mistaken. He is not ashamed to preach the Gospel, because it is the power of God that saves people, and because the truth of God is revealed in it. The Apostle begins almost all of his epistles with thanksgiving to God for the prosperity of the church to which he is writing the epistle. He especially highlights the fact that the conversion of many Romans to faith in Christ is being talked about all over the world. The Apostle thereby points out the great benefit that this fact should have in the spread of Christianity: the provinces will obviously follow the example of the capital city! 11. - “My God”. With this expression, the Apostle points to his personal experience, by which he was convinced of God’s love, in particular, for him, the monster (1 Cor 15:8). - “Through Jesus Christ.” The Apostle sends thanks to God through Christ, as the Head of the Church and as his Head. Rom.1:9. God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that I remember you continually, The Apostle confirms by calling God as a witness that he constantly, in all his varied activities, remembers the Romans. “I serve” – Greek. the word placed here (λατρεύω) denotes the actual liturgical action (cf. Rom. 15:16). So highly does the Apostle place the work of preaching about Christ! - “With my spirit,” that is, with my entire inner being. - “In the gospel of His Son,” that is, (serve) preaching about the Son of God. Rom.1:10. always asking in my prayers that the will of God may one day make it possible for me to come to you, “Someday” – more precisely from the Greek. (ήδη ποτέ) even now, finally (cf. Phil 4:10). Rom.1:11. for I greatly desire to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift for your strengthening, Rom.1:12. that is, to be comforted with you by our common faith, yours and mine. "Spiritual gifting". The apostle wants to serve them with one of the many spiritual gifts that he possessed (cf. 1 Cor 14:26). – “To your establishment” – more precisely from the Greek: “so that you may be established.” Paul, using the form of suffering here. pledge, thereby pushing his personality into the shadows and putting forward only the very result of his activity, because, in his opinion, God himself strengthens Christians. - “That is” “or, to put it more correctly...” “To be comforted with you.” By strengthening others in the faith, the Apostle at the same time strengthened himself. He probably needed such strengthening then, in view of some of his failures (cf. Acts 28:15). “Common” – Greek. the word here (έν αλλήλοις) indicates the interaction by virtue of which the faith of the Apostle was supposed to act on the faith of the Romans and the faith of the Romans on the faith of the Apostle. Rom.1:13. I do not want, brethren, to leave you in ignorance that I intended to come to you many times [but have encountered obstacles even until now] in order to have some fruit among you, as well as among other nations. Rom.1:14. I owe both Greeks and barbarians, wise men and ignorant. Rom.1:15. So, as for me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome. Readers of the epistle with some right could ask themselves: how could it happen that Paul, who had already been an Apostle for twenty years, did not find time to visit the capital of the Roman Empire to proclaim the Gospel here? The Apostle answers this supposed question. Many times he wanted to come to them in order to spread the Gospel in Rome among those who had not yet heard it, but he still encountered serious obstacles to the fulfillment of his desire. And he is very well aware that it is his direct duty to preach in Rome, because he is obligated to preach the gospel of Christ to all the pagans ("peoples" of the 13th century), both to the Greeks, to whom he obviously counts the Romans (Cicero in his op. De finibus contrasts Greto and Italy - together - with the region he calls Barbaria - II, 15), and to the barbarians. - “To you who are in Rome.” Here the Apostle obviously means not only Christians, but the entire Roman population, whose representatives for Paul are the readers of the epistle. Rom.1:16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek. Paul did not come to Rome because he was ashamed to come here with his too simple gospel, as the Roman Christians might have thought. No, he is not at all embarrassed to speak with the Gospel before the Greeks and wise men, because this Gospel is the power for salvation, and if a person brings salvation to other people, then they, of course, will not pay attention to the form in which salvation is communicated to them, no matter how strange and imperfect it may seem to them. "Salvation" (σωτηρία). This word contains two ideas: the idea of ​​liberation from evil, destruction, and the idea of ​​communicating goodness, eternal life in communion with God. The possession of both of these goods is conceivable as a state of mental health (from σώς - healthy, normal). Christians will receive this salvation only at the second coming of the Lord, at the last judgment (Rom 13:11, Phil 1:19; cf. 1 Cor 3:15, 5:5; Rom 5:9), but part of this salvation is given now: a Christian, in principle, already possesses it (2 Cor 6:2; Rom 3:24) 12. "To everyone who believes." The condition for receiving salvation is faith. Salvation would not be possible for everyone if it required something else besides faith, for example, fulfilling the Law of Moses. The faith that the Apostle is talking about here is nothing more than the simple acceptance of the salvation offered by the preachers of the Gospel. A person only has to accept and believe the Gospel - and he immediately begins to enjoy the saving fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. This is the original meaning of what is often used by Ap. Paul's expression to believe (πιστεύειν). This acceptance of the Gospel is not based on any logical data, but on heartfelt trust in the truthfulness of the preacher of the Gospel (Rom. 4:18, 10:16, 14, etc.) - the trust that the special grace of God produces in a person’s soul. Subsequently, of course, faith should appear in other numerous manifestations - in good works, in life by faith, but here the Apostle speaks only about the very first moment, when it is a simple acceptance of the truths of the Gospel. “First to the Jew, then to the Greek.” The word “firstly” (πρώτον), according to the explanation of John Chrysostom, indicates “only order in receiving grace,” which, according to Blessed. Theodoret, is based on the fact that Christ and the apostles are from the Jews, and also on the fact that promises of salvation were given to the Jews (cf. Matthew 10:6). – Since the Greek is here contrasted with the Jew, then by Greeks we must understand not only educated pagans (as in verse 14), but all non-Jews or pagans in general. The pagans are called Hellenes here because the Hellenes, without a doubt, constituted the most outstanding nation among the pagan peoples. Rom.1:17. In it the truth of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written: The righteous shall live by faith. The very content of the Gospel already serves to explain its miraculous action in the world. It is in him that the righteousness of God, hitherto hidden, is revealed. From the Gospel we learn that God is righteous and what exactly His righteousness consists of. We learn all this through our own experience, because we assimilate and confirm the righteousness of God in ourselves. Previously, the possibility of acquiring this righteousness was a hidden secret (Rom. 14:24). – That “the righteousness of God” (δικαιοσύνη Θεοΰ) here means precisely “the righteousness of God” - this is clear from the fact that this expression corresponds in the next verse to the expression: “the wrath of God” in Greek οργή θεοϋ, where θεοϋ (of God) is undoubtedly genitive case of belonging. From this it is necessary to conclude that in the expression δικαιοσύνη θεοΰ the word θεοΰ is also the genitive case of belonging (cf. Rom. 3:5, 24). "From faith to faith". These words relate to the expression "reveals" as being closest in position in the Greek text. The Apostle wants to say that in the Gospel not all people see and assimilate the righteousness of God, but only those who have faith (from faith), that is, faith in Christ who died and rose again. Those, indeed, enter a new life and move towards complete and saving confidence in their future destiny (Rom. 8:38–39) or reach the highest degree of faith (in faith). "As it is written". And the prophet Habakkuk, to whom the Apostle refers as the exponent of the Old Testament worldview, also says that a person can be justified, saved only by faith in God or, what is the same, only by assimilating the righteousness of God within himself. Habakkuk knew no other righteousness, no other way of salvation! Thus, the word “by faith” is best, in accordance with the context of speech, attributed to the expression “righteous,” and the words “will live” are understood in the sense of “will be saved.” Rom.1:18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth through unrighteousness. In order to present the greatness of the Gospel even more clearly, the Apostle further depicts the disastrous state in which humanity lived before Christ. Until the end of the first chapter, he, first of all, depicts the life of the pagans, who, although they could have some knowledge about God, deliberately suppressed the light of truth in themselves in order to live freely according to the desires of their hearts, and, moreover, invented false gods for themselves (18-23). The angry God punished them in two ways. Since they deprived the Creator of the honor due to Him and exchanged Him for creation, God allowed them to reach the extreme degree of depravity and dishonor themselves with various unnatural vices (24-27). And since they neglected the knowledge of God that was possible for them, God allowed them to fall into such a dark abyss of immorality that they not only committed immoral acts themselves, but also approved of others who did the same (28-32). The Gospel is necessary due to the fact that without it, first of all, the pagans would only have to bear severe punishment from God for their sins. "Opens". The revelation of the wrath of God is not tied to any one era by the Apostle: the Lord has been punishing for sins ever since people began to sin. However, there is no doubt that the Apostle had in mind to mainly depict the fall of paganism in his time - the fall to which God, angry with them, allowed the pagans. – “The Wrath of God” (οργή Θ). The wrath of God is actually also the righteousness of God, but manifested in a negative direction. It has as its subject what is unrighteous in man, caused precisely by the moral anomaly of man, and not so much by an insult to the Divine personality. The Greeks also attributed wrath to their gods, but the wrath of these gods (μήνις) was not actually what Paul calls the wrath of God (οργή Θ). He had a character of intransigence, envy and hatred. The gods were offended by people mainly for the disrespect that people showed in relation to their personality, and calmed down when a person paid them for this with offerings, not paying attention to the internal state of the person making the sacrifice. The true God can turn over his wrath to mercy only when a person has completely changed morally and for the better (Heb 10:5-6; cf. Ps 39:7-8). "From the sky". The Apostle adds this in order to show that the phenomena indicated below were really the results of the wrath of God, and not just the natural consequences of the errors of the pagans. (The expression “wrath of God” could otherwise be interpreted in a figurative sense...). By sky here we mean, of course, not the atmospheric or starry sky, but the mysterious location of the throne of the Eternal Judge; The visible sky serves for us only as a symbol of this highest heaven. The prodigal son, confessing his sin before heaven and his father (Luke 15:18), obviously looked at heaven as an avenger for violated sacred feelings. - “To all wickedness and unrighteousness of men,” that is, against those who do not recognize the true God and do not want to be guided by His laws in life (this is wickedness - ασέρεια), for which their evil will is guilty, by which they place their own self above God (this is untruth - αδικία). That is, untruth is the cause of wickedness. - “Those who suppress the truth through untruth.” These words more accurately define what the pagans were guilty of. They, as can be seen from the 19th article, could cognize God in nature and find at least some part of the great truth, that is, believe in the existence of the Eternal Judge, the giver of bribes, but they stubbornly tried to extinguish this saving light (κατέχοντας) in their consciousness and did this, the Apostle again notes, precisely because of the bad motives of their corrupted state. a will that did not want to recognize the higher laws of life, the divine, so as not to give up its vicious aspirations ("untruth" - έν αδικία). Here, obviously, is the same thought as expressed by the Lord in his conversation with Nicodemus: “people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). Rom.1:19. For what can be known about God is obvious to them, because God has revealed it to them. Here the Apostle proves that the pagans really deliberately extinguished the light of truth, and were not just mistaken through ignorance (for) - “what can one know about God” (τό γνωστόν τοΰ θ), that is, every person can know, in a natural way, without receiving special revelations from God, and what it is is said in the 20th Art. - “It is obvious to them” - more precisely: in them (έν αυτοϊς), that is, in their consciousness (cf. Rom. 2:15). - “Because God showed it to them.” The Apostle wants to say by this that natural knowledge of God still has at its foundation the will of God. If the pagans sometimes wanted, so to speak, to forcibly take possession of the highest, divine secrets, then this was a useless effort on their part; people can come to knowledge of God only when God wants it. Rom.1:20. For His invisible things, His eternal power and Godhead, have been visible from the creation of the world through the consideration of creatures, so that they are irresponsible. "His Unseen". This is what the Apostle calls the properties of the being of God in order to show that people needed the special guidance of God to learn the truth, which is not subject to ordinary observation. - “His Eternal Power and Divinity.” This constitutes the closest definition to the expression: “His invisible things.” In the foreground stands the eternal power - one side or one property of the Divine - namely, the omnipotence of God. Indeed, God appears to primitive man first of all as Almighty. The omnipotence of God is called eternal, since it was necessary to distinguish the First Cause of everything from various secondary causes and forces. By Deity (θειότης οτ θείος) one must understand the totality of divine properties - wisdom, goodness, righteousness, holiness (The Deity itself or the Divine being is designated by Paul by another word - θεότης. Col. 2:9). - “From the creation of the world, through viewing creations, we are visible.” The properties of God (His invisible) have become subject to observation since the creation of God appeared. Adam could already see in God’s creations a manifestation of Divine wisdom, omnipotence, and goodness. Visible nature should have the same meaning for every person who looks at it (καθοραω) not like an animal, but rationally, considering what in the life of nature is the cause and what is the effect (νοούμενα from νοΰς mind) 13. - “So they are unrequited.” These words indicate the goal that God has, allowing humanity to know Himself in nature (in Greek, the particle είς is placed here, and not ώστε - the latter really means: so, and είς, always means: so that). Of course, the irresponsibility of the pagans was not the main goal of God when He revealed the picture of the world to man, but it is still certain that God, wishing with this picture to lead man to the path of true knowledge of God, at the same time wanted man, in case of his inattention to the revelation of God in nature, to condemn not God, but himself, when God began to punish him for this inattention... Rom.1:21. But how, having come to know God, they did not glorify Him as God and did not give thanks, but became futile in their speculations, and their foolish hearts were darkened; Rom.1:22. calling themselves wise, they became fools, Rom.1:23. and they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed creatures, and reptiles, - In the 19th–20th century. The apostle explained what he meant by truth in verse 18. In verses 21-23, he indicates more precisely what the suppression of truth consisted of, which he spoke about at the conclusion of verse 18. This suppression consisted in the fact that the pagans, although they knew God (γνόντες), were unable to retain this knowledge within themselves, but, on the contrary, hastened to extinguish the light of truth in their consciousness. - “They did not glorify Him as God,” that is, they did not give Him honor as the Highest, Most Peaceful Being, they did not adorned Him in their consciousness with the perfections due to Him - they did not have enough mind for this! - “And they did not give thanks.” They did not even have a heartfelt attraction to God; they did not treat Him as their Benefactor. - “They became fussy in their speculations,” that is, they became people who in their thoughts are occupied with insignificant, base questions. The expression “mentalizing” (διαλογισμοί) indicates the disordered activity of the mind. - “Their senseless heart was darkened.” The heart, the center of the activity of the mind and will, has become darkened, i.e. became dark, deprived of the light that true knowledge of God spills around itself. Due to the fact that people have sunk in their thoughts, their heart, or mainly their mental ability, has become unreasonable (ασύνετος). In fact, the more a person’s mind becomes unaccustomed to the pursuit of higher, divine objects, the more his receptivity and ability to comprehend them weakens: the mind becomes in this regard downright incomprehensible... - “They have gone mad,” that is, they have reached the point of extreme stupidity. We are talking about peoples who were generally proud of their mental development (Egyptians, Greeks, Romans). - “The glory of the incorruptible God,” that is, the greatest perfection of the Divine, as it appeared to people in visible nature (see Art. 20). The pagans must initially have developed an extremely brilliant image of the Divine - an image in which everything that was most perfect from the point of view of the human mind was concentrated. - “They changed it into an image,” that is, they replaced the image of God with the image of different creatures, which was initially revealed in their consciousness. The apostle is referring to the various images that the pagans worshiped - images representing people, animals and birds. Similarly, the psalmist says about the Jews: “and they exchanged their glory (i.e., Jehovah) for the image of a donkey eating grass” (Ps. 106:20). Of course, the Apostle does not think that the pagans considered these idols to be gods, but he still wants to show the madness of the pagans, who did not find anything better than to depict their gods under such images. Even the image of a man is an inappropriate image for the Divine, because man is a perishable being and cannot represent the incorruptible God... It should be noted that, according to Paul’s view, serving idols was not at all some step forward from fetishism (veneration of simple objects of nature - stones, trees, etc.). On the contrary, he views polytheism with its idolatry as the result of the spiritual degeneration of humanity, as a darkening of the mind and heart, which ultimately led people to the grossest fetishism. And modern science confirms with its research this view of the Apostle. It shows that the original religion was everywhere monotheism and that the pagans of India and Africa are falling lower and lower in religious terms. [The book of the Wisdom of Solomon also speaks about the origin of idolatry (for example, Wisdom 13:1–8, 14:11–20), but what is said there cannot in any case be recognized as the source of what we find in Ap. Paul: this is how the superficial description of idolatry in the book of Wisdom differs from the deep psychological analysis that Ap. gives us here. Paul!]. Rom.1:24. then God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, so that they defiled their own bodies. Rom.1:25. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature instead of the Creator, Who is blessed forever, amen. Rom.1:26. Therefore, God gave them over to shameful passions: their women replaced natural use with unnatural; Rom.1:27. Likewise, men, abandoning the natural use of the female sex, were inflamed with lust for one another, men committing shame on men and receiving in themselves the due retribution for their error. The first manifestation of the wrath of God, which the Apostle now begins to depict, was that God allowed people to reach the extreme degree of depravity: since they betrayed the word of God, God allowed them to change or replace the natural relationships between men and women with unnatural or unnatural ones! - “Betrayed them.” Ancient interpreters agree to convey this expression as follows: “allowed or allowed them.” Blazh. Theodoret, for example, writes: “God, seeing them as not wanting the creature to lead them to the Creator..., deprived them of His providence and allowed them to rush around like an unequipped boat, not wanting to control those who had fallen into extreme wickedness, which gave rise to lawless life.” But, in addition to allowance, which actually implies only a passive attitude of God towards sinners, the verb betrayed also indicates the active manifestation of God’s wrath. God, by betraying man to the will of his passions, punishes man (cf. Acts 7:42; 2 Thess. 2:11 et seq.). But is it possible to combine such a way of action with the concept of God as the Most Holy Being? Can. God here is a wise educator, who, in order for his pupil to be fully convinced of the harm of a certain self-will, gives him the opportunity to reach the extreme manifestation of this self-will, after which a reaction must certainly begin: the pupil, having realized all the harm of self-will, turns to his teacher for instructions. An example of this conversion is the prodigal son (Luke 15:16–18). - “In the lusts of their hearts.” Lusts or desires directed toward everything worldly and sinful carry a person away like waves of a boat torn away from the pier. – “Uncleanness”, i.e. sins that defile a person (Rom. 6:19) and mainly carnal (2 Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19). This is the abyss where the waves carry the boat (in Greek it is put: είς ακαθαρσίαν into uncleanness). - “So they desecrated their own bodies.” The peculiarity of the sins of intemperance is that through them a person gives up his own body to shame, as happened in various pagan cults (from the Greek, more precisely: “so that their bodies were deprived of honor”). - “They replaced the truth of God with lies.” Verse 25 is an interpolation. The Apostle here wants to give a more specific motivation for the decision of God, which is given in the 24th verse. People exchanged the truth of God, that is, the correct idea of ​​God (θεού - will give birth, a subject) for lies or for false gods, for idols (cf. Ps 106:20; Jer 3:10). - “And they worshiped” - (in Greek εσεράσθησαν) they honored (indicating primarily internal reverence for God). – They served (in Greek ελάτρευσαν) they performed sacrifices and other functions required by the pagan cult. - “Creatures instead of the Creator.” Paganism, in its essence, is the deification of creation (cf. v. 23), combined with oblivion of the Creator God. - “Which is blessed.” The Apostle gives glory to God, who, despite the desire of the pagans to humiliate Him, will always be blessed as the Creator and Provider of the world. - “That’s why I betrayed him.” Here the Apostle returns to the thought he expressed in Art. 24. God was angry with the pagans and gave them over to the will of unnatural vices. Previously, they were in lusts (επιθυμίαι) - now in passions (παθη), which make a slave out of a person who has completely lost his will. These passions are shameful (ατιμίας), that is, shameful, consisting in a distortion of the order of nature, humiliating a person. The existence of those specified in Articles 26 and 27 unnatural vices in paganism are confirmed by the evidence of modern Ap. Paul of Greek and Roman writers. - “Receiving in ourselves.” For their deviation from true worship of God (error cf. vv. 21-23, 25), the pagans, apparently for everyone (in themselves), received from God the due retribution or punishment, which consisted precisely in the betrayal of the pagans by God to such unnatural vices. It is clear that, according to the Apostle, the moral feeling in a person is alive only as long as the idea of ​​the All-Holy Being of God lives in him. He who reveres God ennobles himself, and he who rejects Him falls lower and lower morally. The Apostle obviously does not recognize “independent” morality. Rom.1:28. And even though they did not care to have God in their minds, God gave them over to a depraved mind - to do indecent things, Rom.1:29. so that they are filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, malice, filled with envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil spirits, Rom.1:30. slanderers, slanderers, haters of God, offenders, self-praisers, proud, resourceful for evil, disobedient to parents, Rom.1:31. reckless, treacherous, unloving, irreconcilable, unmerciful. Rom.1:32. They know the righteous judgment of God, that those who do such things are worthy of death; however, not only do they do them, but they also approve of those who do them. The second manifestation of the wrath of God. Because the pagans did not want to make the knowledge of God the guiding principle in their lives, God gave them over to the power of a complete darkening of moral consciousness. - “To a perverted mind.” Perverse mind (αδόκιμος) – unable to know what is evil and what is good. - “Indecency” (τα μή καθήκοντα) is what was previously considered immoral by the pagans themselves and which they later, with the loss of a properly functioning mind, began to consider good and therefore fearlessly commit. - “So they are fulfilled...”. Here the Apostle gives a more detailed description of the “indecencies” of the pagans. Ap.'s list of vices. Paul is also given in the following places; Rom 13:13; 1 Cor 5:10–11, 6:9–10; 2 Cor 12:20–21; Gal 5:19–21; Eph 4:31, 5:3–4; Col 3:5, 8; 1 Tim 1:9-10; 2 Timothy 3:2–5. Both there and here, the Apostle does not adhere to a strictly logical order: broader and closer concepts are found nearby, related vices and similar ones are associated (for example, φθόνος and φόνος). From the list of sins found in the Old Testament (for example, Exodus XX-XXIII chapters; Lev. 19; Deut. 27) the list of Ap. Paul is distinguished by the fact that in the Old Testament, seemingly individual actions and especially gross sins appear, while with Paul sinful moods are in the foreground, as the source of individual sins. - “They know the righteous judgment of God” (v. 32), that is, what God requires as Lawgiver and Judge. This is the natural law of moral consciousness (Rom. 2:15), which establishes the position that those who do such things are worthy of death, that is, eternal death. It should be noted that the pagans also had the concept of eternal hellish torment awaiting stubborn sinners after death. “Those who do are approved.” These words contain an indication of the complete darkening of the moral sense in the pagans, which was the result of God’s wrathful allowance. Public opinion in the pagan world began to approve of wicked people as doing the right thing. It is known that both Caligula and Nero received encouragement in Roman society. Of course, this did not exclude the possibility of a different attitude towards vices and vicious people (see 2, 14, 26 et seq.), but such an attitude was truly an exception to the general rule in pagan society. One can even say that the pagans, who knew how to understand and appreciate, as they should, all the evils of depravity, in this case went against the general trend... Some want to see here the designation of a theocratic king in the highest sense of the word or messiah. But we cannot agree with this opinion due to the fact that in John the Theologian’s Gospel (John 1:49) the expressions: “Son of God” and “King of Israel” stand side by side as different concepts. Others believe that this expression refers only to the incomparable moral perfection of Christ and His constant communion with God. But this assumption is contradicted by the fact that Paul in our letter (Rom. 8:3) ascribes pre-existence to the Son, which the mentioned interpretation does not allow... Others explain the title of the Son of God from the miraculous birth of the Lord from the Holy Spirit; but this interpretation also contradicts the passage just cited from Chapter 8. Finally, some think that the title of Son of God is given to Christ by virtue of the glorification He received after completing the atonement. But the Apostle in the 4th Art. He speaks of the title of the Son of God not as something acquired again, but as something accepted again. And here, too, the personal dignity of Christ, as the Son of God, precedes both further described forms of His existence - earthly and heavenly or glorified. Thus, we can rightfully see in the expression Son of God an indication of the divine dignity of Christ. The Apostle expresses faith in Christ as the true God in other epistles (1 Cor 8:6, 10:4; Phil 2:6; Col 1:15–17). Tsang conveys this passage as follows: “I and the other apostles of Christ received...” According to Tsang, this refers to Christ’s command to the apostles to preach to all creation (Mark 16:15). Deisman, however, sees here an indication only of the Christian world, of the society of believers in Christ, which was keenly interested in how the Gospel was received in Rome... p. 40. “The Gospel, that is, first of all, religious spiritual power, is not only a known worldview, but a reality that renews your entire inner being. It is not a political program, not a church slogan, not a residence permit in an earthly state, but a purely spiritual value... It is important when discussing our relationship to God, about your soul and eternity. But at the same time, the Gospel brings with it the highest culture, exceeding everything that humanity itself could create in the cultural field. History has given proof of the truth of the words of the Apostle: Rome with its culture perished, but Christianity spread and continues to spread, reviving human creativity everywhere” (abbreviation from Mayer a Neue Testameni fur mod. Bedurfniss) Juticher translates this verse as follows. “from the very creation of the world, in His (God’s) works, something from His invisible being - namely, His eternal power and greatness - can be seen with the eyes of the mind...” You might be interested in: