I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for
WEEK 37
LAMENTING OVER SIN
ROMANS 1:16-32
I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "But the righteous man shall live by faith."
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
O GOD OF GRACE, were it not for Your call upon our lives,
the vices of the world would utterly destroy us. Apart from Your love and provision in Christ,
we would have no hope. When we were wretched sinners,
alienated from You, undone, full of evil desires, in bondage to evil— instead of abandoning us to our own iniquities
and their consequences, You reached out to us and drew us to Yourself. The gospel came in the power of the Holy Spirit
and rescued us from ruin. Christ, our great Deliverer, freed us from
sin, death, and judgment.
You imputed our sin to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and He bore the full penalty. He condemned sin in the flesh.1
He redeemed us from the curse of the law,
having become a curse for us.2
Now you credit His righteousness to us,
and we receive divine favor that belongs to Him. You justify the ungodly.3
There is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.4
Even though we have been fully forgiven and entirely reconciled to You,
sin still clings to us. We know that in our flesh dwells no good thing. The willing is present with us, but the doing of good is not. Sinful desires and evil habits hound and harass us,
although we want to do good.5
We stand like Lazarus:
We have been given new life at the call of our Savior, being raised from the dead, but our grave clothes still remain.6
We are like the prodigal son,
returning from the far country filthy, destitute, still wearing the rags of our dereliction
and still bearing the scars of sin. We long for that day when we leave this world
and receive eternal, unblemished holiness
through instant glorification. Then we will finally be unspotted in Your presence,
and we will dwell forever
in perfect righteousness and consummate holiness.
Until then, Lord, cleanse us daily. Intensify our distaste for sin. Magnify Christ in our eyes. Amplify Your truth in our hearts. Mortify sin in our lives. Crucify our sinful self-love.
We adore You, Lord, and we offer You these prayers
as an act of worship in our Savior's name. Amen.
1. Romans 8:3 2. Galatians 3:13 3. Romans 4:5 4. Romans 8:1 5. Romans 7:18,21 6. John 11:35-45