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From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart to proclaim the gospel of God.

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This gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,

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concerning His Son, who according to the flesh was born of the seed of David,

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and according to the Spirit of holiness was declared by the resurrection from the dead to be the powerful Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord.

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Through Him we have received grace and apostleship to bring all nations to obedience of faith for the sake of His name.

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You also are among them, you who have been called to belong to Christ.

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To all of you who are in Rome, beloved of God, called and made holy: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

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First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being spoken of throughout the whole world.

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For God, whom I serve with all my heart in proclaiming the gospel of His Son, is my witness that I always remember you in my prayers:

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I pray that by the will of God I may at last have the opportunity to come to you.

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For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,

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that is, that I may be encouraged together with you among you, through the faith we share, both yours and mine.

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Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that I have often intended to come to you — but until now I have always been hindered — so that among you I might have some fruit, just as among the other Gentiles.

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I am under obligation both to Greeks and to non-Greeks, both to the educated and to the uneducated.

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That is why I am eager to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

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For I am firmly convinced about the gospel, because the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

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For in it the righteousness of God is revealed, from faith and leading to faith, as it is written: “The righteous shall live by faith.”

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For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth by unrighteousness.

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For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

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For the invisible things of Him—His eternal power and divinity—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, since the creation of the world, so that they are without excuse.

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For although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor give thanks to Him. Instead, their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

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Claiming to be wise, they became fools.

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They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image in the likeness of mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, or creeping things.

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Therefore God gave them over to the desires of their hearts to impurity, so that they dishonored their bodies among themselves.

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For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

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For this reason God gave them over to shameful passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.

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Likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another, committing indecency, men with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

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And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done:

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being filled with all kinds of unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice.

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They are slanderers, gossips, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, skilled in evil, disobedient to parents,

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without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful.

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For although they know the righteous decree of God, that those who practice such things deserve death, they not only do them themselves, but also approve of those who practice them.

📖 Romans 1 – The Gospel: God’s Power for Salvation

🧾 Summary of Contents

Romans 1 is the opening of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. Paul introduces himself, explains his calling to proclaim the Gospel, and emphasizes that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes. This chapter also explains God’s wrath against human sin, especially idolatry and humanity’s moral fall.

✨ Explanation by Section

1. Paul’s Greeting to the Church in Rome (Verses 1–7)

Paul introduces himself as a servant of Christ Jesus and an apostle called to proclaim the Gospel.
The gospel he preached was rooted in the prophecies of the Old Testament and fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
He greeted the believers in Rome as those who are loved by God and called to be saints.

💡 Lesson: Our identity as believers is as those “loved and called by God”.

2. Paul’s Desire to Serve in Rome (Verses 8–15)

Paul gave thanks for the faith of the church in Rome, which was heard throughout the whole world.
He expressed a great desire to visit them and to share a spiritual gift so that they might be strengthened.
Paul felt that he was under obligation to all people — both Greeks and non-Greeks — to proclaim the gospel.

💡 Lesson: A longing to build up the faith of others should mark the servant of God.

3. The Gospel: God’s Power for Salvation (Verses 16–17)

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because the gospel is the power of God that saves everyone who believes.”
(Romans 1:16)

Paul declares his firm confidence in the gospel, which brings salvation to all who believe — first to the Jew, then to the non-Jew.
In that gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, namely, that a person is justified by faith.

💡 Lesson: The gospel is not merely good news — the gospel is POWER to save and transform lives.

4. God’s Wrath against Unrighteousness (Verses 18–32)

Paul explains that the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of human beings.
Human beings reject the truth even though God has made Himself known through creation.
For they exchanged the glory of God for idols, God gave them over to their passions and to a depraved mind.
A list of sins appears, including idolatry, sexual immorality (including homosexuality), envy, murder, slander, and disobedience to parents.
They knew that such things deserved judgment, yet they continued to do them and approved others who did the same.

💡 Lesson: Rejection of the truth leads to ever-deepening moral ruin.

📘 Main Teachings of Romans 1

The gospel is saving power, not merely moral teaching.
Salvation comes through faith, not human effort.
Rejection of God brings moral and spiritual corruption.
God reveals Himself through creation, so humanity has no excuse to deny Him.
Hardness of heart causes people to exchange truth for a lie.

✨ Spiritual Meaning of Romans 1

Salvation is not exclusive to one nation, but is available to all who believe.
The gospel reveals God’s justice and mercy together — He is just in judging sin, yet gracious in saving believers.
Life without God will drift away from the noble purpose for which humanity was created.
This chapter becomes a strong foundation for understanding how vital repentance and the preaching of the gospel are.