Romans 1:19-23
Lesson #5 of Romans
By Pastor Ronnie Wolfe

The Reason

19  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

This verse tells us why God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.

The reason is that God has manifested and shown unto man that which may be known of God; that is, through nature and empirical wisdom. Notice what John says in

John 1:9 [That] was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

God has given natural light to every man (person) who comes into the world. He gives the light of reason whereby man may comprehend certain things about God. He can ascertain his wonderful attribute of perfect power to create. Man might know of God’s glory, his majesty, his transcendence, his power and wisdom, etc.

However, man may not know his true nature, his trinity, his Gospel, etc., without a special revelation from God. Neither can man know his need of a Savior or his desperate condition before God without God’s special revelation through the word of God.

God has shown man his sun, his stars, his clouds, his lightning, his mountains, his wildernesses, his beauty of the blooming deserts, his majestic waterfalls, his open fields which seem to reach out to eternity, his animal kingdom, his tiny insects and microscopic creatures, his design and his orderliness in the world.

God has not spared the revelation of himself to man through nature. Man can see these truths, but they hold the truth in unrighteousness and deny the power of God in them.

The Invisible Things of God

20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

These invisible things of God are not his Gospel or his righteousness or his attributes, but they are his wonderful creating qualities, his majesty, even his "eternal power and Godhead." In other words, man has clearly shown God’s eternal power and Godhead (or deity) by the things which he has created and put into the course of nature.

Neither are these things new. Our evolutionists are always looking for some new revelation of science to give them more information that will help them discover the origin or life; but God is not giving any new revelations of science. These things have been clearly shown from the time of creation by the things that are made.

The scientist, the farmer, the lawyer, the poet, the philosopher, the teacher, the preacher, the typist, the Indian chief all have at their disposal the creation of God to show them God’s eternal existence and power, and so much so that they are "without excuse." They will have no excuse in the judgment for their ignorance of a just God who will judge them of their unrighteousness, nor can they give a just reason that they should not be condemned for their sins.

This knowledge of God is sufficient for their guilt before God, but it is not sufficient for a saving knowledge of God. This must be given by God as a gift.

The Foolish Heart Darkened

21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

We have already said that there is no excuse, because they knew God. They knew him in his existence and his power from the time of creation.

But when they knew God as God, they did not glorify him as God. They know he is the Creator, yet they do not give him credit for being the Creator. They know he is the Designer, but they do not glorify him as such.. They know he has perfect control over the affairs of nature, yet they do not credit him with this grand orderliness. They say either that they do not know why a thing is or that a thing happens, or they imagine or pretend that they know why and yet never will admit that God is behind every event in nature.

So, since they do not glorify God as God, they neither are thankful to him for the very nature that they enjoy. Evolution is based upon the cause and effects of second causes; the First Cause is never admonished nor referenced. Some give more thanks to the creation than to the Creator.

As a result, their imaginations are vain: they think they know or pretend they know, but they do not have the knowledge they pronounce, because they will not glorify the real Actor in nature. They become proud and arrogant and ferocious against God.

They have a foolish heart, and "the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God" (Psalm 14:1). And this foolish heart becomes darkened by man’s own intellectualism, for he thinks he knows something that he does not know.

The Profession

22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

Many of the fools sit at the feet of college professors whose breath is spiritual cyanide; and when they are finished at the educational pig-sty, they go on to the classrooms as teachers of our children pretending to be wise. They teach our children that there is no God; they poke fun at faith in a living God and work to eradicate any mention of him in their classrooms.

But in their so-called wisdom, they have become fools. They may seem to be wise to the world, but they are fools to God.

1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

The Image

23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

So, since man is at his root a religious creature, and not knowing the real nature of the true God of Heaven, he goes about to glorify the corruptible rather than the incorruptible.

Instead of God, we find that man worships many things.

Vincent remarks "Deities of human form prevailed in Greece; those of bestial form in Egypt; and both methods of worship were practiced in Rome. See on Acts 7:41 ...

Acts 7:41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.

"... Serpent-worship was common in Chaldaea, and also in Egypt, where the asp was sacred." Israel evidently learned calf-worship from Egypt’s sacred bull.

Birds were worshiped by the Samaritans and the Egyptians.

Can you image people worshiping Cicadas? Well, many peoples worship the creeping things such as insects.

Conclusion of This Lesson

Some may object to spending so much time by the Apostle Paul in speaking of the crimes and sins of the people mentioned here. Why, if God is such a wonderful and gracious and forgiving God, should we spend this time depicting the horrors of man’s objection to an Almighty God?

The fact of the matter is, why would a person want to be forgiven by an all-gracious God if he does not know that he has sinned so horribly against him?

A man will not want to receive forgiveness unless he needs forgiveness. He will not ask for mercy unless he needs mercy. He will not plead for grace unless he needs grace. He will not want to be changed from his present self into something better unless he knows that his present self is at odds against a holy God and that a new self will be much better for him and to the glory of an eternal and loving God.

Today, you must know you sin. You must know your need of a Savior. You must surrender to him and trust him, being forgiven of your sins. Romans 3:23 tells us that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." That means every person on the face of the earth. Therein is the need. If you know that need today, then repent of your sins and trust Jesus Christ and his death, burial and resurrection. Remember, the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.