Today we start the Book of Romans. Chapter one's theme is Paul's personal greetings, Paul's purpose, Paul's three "I ams"; a natural revelation of God; subnatural response of man; and the unnatural retrogression of man.

Romans teaches the total depravity of man. Man is irrevocably and hopelessly lost. He must have the righteousness of God since he has none of his own. Verses 16 an 17 have long been recognized as the key to the epistle. These two verses should be memorized and the meaning of each word digested.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.

Paul starts off by identifying himself as a slave, or doulos, of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the road to Damascus, the Lord said to Paul, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” And Paul replied, “Who art thou, Lord?” He said, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.” It was at this moment that Paul came to know Him as his Savior. Then Paul’s question was, “What wilt thou have me to do?” (see Acts 9:4–6). This is when Paul made himself a bondslave of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Verse 6, the called are the elect. Who are the called? Well, they are those who have heard. The Lord Jesus made it clear when He said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

Paul's purpose: He wants to come to Rome to teach the Word of God. Paul loved to teach the Word of God.

His three "I am's": Paul said, “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians.” He had had a personal transaction with Jesus Christ which put him in debt to every man, because the grace of God had been so bountifully bestowed upon him. Paul was in debt to a lost world. Second "I am": In verse 15: "I am ready to preach the gospel...." Paul has said that he is a debtor; now he says he is ready to pay. The third "I am" is the bock quote I gave at the beginning.

The natural revelation of God: The wrath of God is revealed.” Actually, if you want to know what salvation really is, you have to know how bad sin is. In other words, “Sin is the measure of salvation.”

The subnatural response of man: Verses 21-23... There is no such thing as man moving upward. Man is not improving physically, morally, intellectually, or spiritually. The pull is downward. Of course this contradicts all the anthologies of religion that start with man in a very primitive condition and move him up intellectually and toward God.

The unnatural regression of man: Now we see the results of man’s revolution against God. In the remainder of this chapter it says three times that God gave them up.
Man has a revelation from God, but he flagrantly flaunts it by defying the judgment of God against such sins. He continues to practice them and applauds and approves those who do the same.

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