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The Gospel Exalted

¹ Paul, a ^(F1)bond-servant of Christ Jesus, ^(C1)called as an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative), ^(C2)set apart for preaching ^(C3)the ^(F2)gospel of God the good news of salvation,² which He ^(C1)promised beforehand through His ^(C2)prophets in the sacred Scriptures—³ the good news regarding His Son, who, ^(C1)as to the flesh His human nature, was born ^(C2)a descendant of David to fulfill the covenant promises,⁴ and as to His divine nature according to the Spirit of holiness was openly designated to be ^(C1)the Son of God with power in a triumphant and miraculous way by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.⁵ It is through Him that we have received grace and our ^(C1)apostleship to promote ^(C2)obedience to the faith and make disciples for His name's sake among ^(C3)all the Gentiles,⁶ and you also are among those who are ^(C1)called of Jesus Christ to belong to Him;

⁷ I am writing to all who are ^(C1)beloved of God in Rome, called to be ^(C2)saints (God's people) and set apart for a sanctified life, that is, set apart for God and His purpose: ^(C3)Grace to you and peace inner calm and spiritual well-being from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸ First, ^(C1)I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because ^(C2)your faith your trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness is being proclaimed in all the world.⁹ For ^(C1)God, whom I ^(C2)serve with my spirit by preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how continuously ^(C3)I mention you¹⁰ in my prayers; always pleading that somehow, by ^(C1)God's will, I may now at last come to you.¹¹ For ^(C1)I long to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift, to strengthen and establish you;¹² that is, that we may be mutually encouraged and comforted by each other's faith, both yours and mine.^13 (C1)I do not want you to be unaware, ^(F1)(C2)brothers and sisters, that many times I ^(C3)have planned to come to you, (and have been prevented so far) so that I may have some ^(C4)fruit of my labors among you, even as I have among the rest of the Gentiles.¹⁴ I have ^(C1)a duty to perform and a debt to pay both to Greeks and to ^(C2)barbarians the cultured and the uncultured, both to the wise and to the foolish.¹⁵ So, for my part, I am ready and eager to ^(C1)preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

¹⁶ I am not ^(C1)ashamed of the gospel, for ^(C2)it is the power of God for salvation from His wrath and punishment to everyone who believes in Christ as Savior, to the ^(C3)Jew first and also to ^(C4)the Greek.¹⁷ For in the gospel ^(C1)the righteousness of God is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith disclosed in a way that awakens more faith. As it is written and forever remains written, "^(C2)THE JUST and UPRIGHT SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." ^(VR1)

Unbelief and Its Consequences

¹⁸ For God does not overlook sin and ^(C1)the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who in their wickedness ^(C2)suppress and stifle the truth,¹⁹ because ^(C1)that which is known about God is evident within them in their inner consciousness, for God made it evident to them.²⁰ For ever ^(C1)since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, ^(C2)being understood through His workmanship all His creation, the wonderful things that He has made, so that they who fail to believe and trust in Him are without excuse and without defense. ^(VR1)21 For even though ^(F1)they knew God as the Creator, they did not ^(F2)honor Him as God or give thanks for His wondrous creation. On the contrary, they became ^(C1)worthless in their thinking godless, with pointless reasonings, and silly speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.^22 (C1)Claiming to be wise, they became fools,²³ and ^(C1)exchanged the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God for ^(F1)an image worthless idols in the shape of mortal man and birds and four-footed animals and reptiles.

²⁴ Therefore ^(C1)God gave them over in the lusts of their own hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies would be ^(C2)dishonored among them abandoning them to the degrading power of sin,²⁵ because by choice they exchanged the truth of God for a ^(C1)lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, ^(C2)who is blessed forever! Amen. ^(VR1)

²⁶ For this reason ^(C1)God gave them over to ^(C2)degrading and vile passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural a function contrary to nature,²⁷ and in the same way also the men turned away from the natural function of the woman and were consumed with their desire toward one another, ^(C1)men with men committing shameful acts and in return receiving in their own bodies the inevitable and appropriate penalty for their wrongdoing.

²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or consider Him worth knowing as their Creator, ^(C1)God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do things which are improper and repulsive,²⁹ until they were filled (permeated, saturated) with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice and mean-spiritedness. They are ^(C1)gossips spreading rumors,³⁰ slanderers, ^(C1)haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of new forms of evil, ^(C2)disobedient and disrespectful to parents,³¹ without understanding, untrustworthy, ^(C1)unloving, unmerciful without pity.³² Although they know God's righteous decree and His judgment, that those who do such things deserve ^(C1)death, yet they not only do them, but they ^(C2)even enthusiastically approve and tolerate others who practice them.