*HSV- Hannah Standard Version.... Brody wanted us as staff to rewrite the verse in our own words that week.
Romans 1:17-32
Verse 17: When we get saved we become reconciled to God. Our God is a righteous God and can only be in the presence of righteousness. We become saved through faith in Christ and we live our lives by the faith that we have entrusted into Him.
Verse 18: When it says that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven it means that through the death of Christ we were able to see how God is to punish sin and ungodliness. The wrath of God is God’s anger towards sin and how He deals with that anger. He deals with that anger by punishing those who have sinned against Him. When Paul says that they have suppressed the truth he means that the people have been hiding what God truly is because they cannot be in his presence because of how they truly are. Righteousness and unrighteousness do not mix together.
HSV: God showed us who we really are and how not being honest about Him is wrong as well.
Verses 19-20: simply states that God has revealed Himself to us in a very simple way. The two qualities we are able to see God is through His eternal power and divine nature.
HSV: There is no reason not to believe in God because He has made His existence very simple to believe in through His creation and loving nature towards mankind.
Verse 21: this verse definitely makes me think of American Christians today. Many American Christians are found within the Bible Belt of the South and can quote scripture left and right but many of them never get the chance to experience an intimate relationship with God because they don’t pursue God the way a relationship with Him ought to be pursued. This is why they do not glorify Him In their lives or give thanks to Him for all that He has done for them. Many think that they got to wherever they are on their own when really it was all God. Most of the time, more like all of the time, mankind is willing to use the gifts of God but do not want to give Him the glory for supplying the gifts. The root of all sin is the refusal to give God the glory in all things. “futile in their thinking”… God gave every human a brain. And with that brain we can accomplish great things for the Gospel and the sake of God’s kingdom. He gave us a brain so that we could do those things. However, most of us are not focused on eternal matters but are focused on earthly matters that change every day and won’t matter ten years from now. Humans have very futile minds and ways of thinking because we are consumed by the instant self gratification society that we live in. if we didn’t have the “it’s all about me” attitude then we wouldn’t have dark hearts and would be able to focus on the real reason we were put on this earth.
HSV: by ignoring God you are only doing damage to yourself and you’re going to catch a cold from ice inside your soul.
Verse 22: many people who have doctorates think that they are super duper smart. And by society’s view point they probably are. However, they are only smart in one area of the academic world. This is why I think many people in higher education do not understand Christianity. They are trying to find solid logic in it and it can’t really be found to the degree in which they are seeking. It is very hard to grasp that a holy and invisible God sent down His only, perfect Son to die an awful death for all of mankind: past, present and future, just because He loves us. And because they do not just do as Christ says, “come with childlike faith” they remain in the status of being a “fool” because they are thinking about it way too much.
HSV: Professionals built the Titanic, amateurs built the Ark.
Verse 23: this verse makes me think of the belief in evolution and the big bang theory. And it goes along with the previous verse about people thinking they are smart but really are stupid. And an issue that we can get caught up in is worshiping the creation rather than the Creator. This is also a point that I think this verse is trying to make. But we need not to do so. The creation is a gift from the Creator and we should thank and worship Him and enjoy the gift that He has given us. This verse really hits on idolatry a lot.
HSV: Worship the Creator, not the creation.
Verse 24: I have always been told that if a believer has fallen deep into sin and his/her heart has turned cold and hard to God that He will step back until the child is ready to come back fully to Him. He’ll let them go and do their own thing and then when they realize that what they thought they wanted is really the complete opposite then they will come back to God and He’ll melt their hearts back to the way they should be.
HSV: God took a step back and let the humans take the wheel for a ride to see if the grass was really greener on the other side.
Verse 25: kind of going back to v.23 about worshipping the creation rather than the creator. That is a bad place to be. Often times God will give you a really good gift that makes a great addition to your life. You do thank God for it, but you become way too consumed in that gift that you forget about the One who gave it to you. If you find yourself in this predicament, don’t be surprised for God to take that gift away for a while until you get your eyes back focused on Him, I know from experience. Also at the beginning of this verse it mentioned about exchanging the truth about God for a lie. Never fall into the traps of other religions and all the “good stuff” they may try to offer.
HSV: It’s not good stuff that the world is trying to offer you through lies, so don’t take they bad stuff. And God gives and He can take away.
Verses 26-27: these two verses are referring to homosexuality. Committing the acts of homosexuality is dishonorable towards God, but not only are the acts dishonorable towards God but also just the desires and thoughts of homosexual behavior that is floating around in one’s mind and heart.
HSV: God knows your deep, inner thoughts and desires so make sure they honor Him along with your outward actions.
Verse 28: Very similar to v. 24. God is gonna let the people have free reign on their actions to prove that He knows what is best for them.
HSV: men only become worse because of the removal of the holy spirit being an active part in their everyday lives.
Verses 29-31: These verses are listing many different sins that some people may not have even considered sin. Or thought that they were just too small to count when lined up next to sexual sin and murder.
HSV: A sin is a sin is a sin… there is no ruler or form of measurement of sin in God’s eyes, Christ died for all and we should rid ourselves of all sin.
Verse 32: my first reaction to reading this verse was “SMH” which means “shake my head”. It makes me think of how a parent knows his/her child is smoking dope and won’t do anything about it, in fact the parent might even help get the money to the child to help pay for more dope. Accountability is very important in a Christian’s life. I have definitely experience accountability since leaving SWO from 2010. Some of it has been brutal if I were being honest.
HSV: Even though what you are doing is wrong, but if it is making you happy and bringing instant satisfaction keep doing it, it’s not gonna hurt…
This passage was very deep and eye opening in my walk this week. It definitely challenged me in all areas of my life and my walk and how I need to improve on certain things and seek God in all that I do. It was a very hard passage to swallow but I enjoyed studying it and will continue to study it on my own.
