Day 183 – The Book of Romans

Today’s reading: Romans 1

Today we begin the book of Romans.  It was written by Paul in approximately A.D. 58 after he had been traveling and preaching for about 20 years.  It has many nuances that require thoughtful and prayerful reflection.

It is unclear exactly why he wrote the letter as at this point it is understood that he had not yet been to Rome.  Paul had expressed repeated interest in traveling to Rome, which at this time had a thriving Christian community.  That community probably developed in many different ways.  We know from other evidence that Peter was in Rome. It also seems likely that Jews from Rome traveled on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and some may have brought back the good news of the Gospel with them.  Also, it is quite possible that converts from many of the other cities Paul and the Apostles had previously evangelized moved to Rome during their lives.

There are many interesting things in the first chapter but I think the last sentence is the most important.  The Chapter discusses how, even among the pagans, God’s ways are made manifest to the natural law and thus a person can be responsible for rejecting God’s law even if it is not explicitly known to them.  In speaking about those who engage in sin and immoral practices Paul says:

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

This is a striking thing to happen.  For those who choose to go against the moral law in effect, God says, “Have it your way” and God gives, “them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity.”  This is how much God loves you, that he will respect your free will, even if you use it to make disastrous choices. 

The footnotes in my bible make another important point.  This is God removing any pretense.  Imagine an example of a husband having an affair.  He goes to Church every week, Boy Scouts, Little League, etc.  He looks for the entire world to be a model example.  Inevitably one day it comes crashing down.   Eventually, the sin consumes the host.  In some ways, this dynamic is a medicinal function built in by God as a sort of, ‘you’ve hit rock bottom, now what’ moment. In other ways, it is the wrath of God  It's God saying, “fine but don’t pretend you’re on my side.” 

But the last line is particularly disturbing, it suggests, that once involved in an immoral life, that you stop recognizing it for what it is and begin to see it as normal, good and to approve of it.  Eventually, sin becomes the new normal.  Paul describes the immoral practices of the pagans and then says:

Though they know God’s decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them.

So not only are those who engage in sinful actions in trouble but others who approve of those actions may be sinning.  This is why we must be faithful in our understanding of what the Bible says about judging others.  We are not to judge the souls of others, that is God’s domain alone.  However, we are to judge actions, particularly sinful behavior.  That we have to call out, correct it in love, and stand against, if only so that others can still recognize it.

As Archbishop Fulton Sheen famously said,

Tolerance is an attitude of reasoned patience toward evil … a forbearance that restrains us from showing anger or inflicting punishment. Tolerance applies only to persons … never to truth. – “A Plea for Intolerance” (1931)

Truth matters.  We must stand up for it.  It must be defended.  Tolerance is for people.  All people must be loved by the Christian.  At the same time, we can and must be intolerant of wrong behavior, wrong ideas, wrong opinions, and error.  Not with malice, anger or even impatience but still with love and earnestness, lest we become those who can no longer recognize the sin in front of us and begin to approve of it.

Tomorrow: Romans 2