Romans 1:18-25

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 1:24

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness ,.... Not by putting any into them, but by leaving them to the pollution of their nature; by withdrawing his providential restraints from them, and by giving them up to judicial hardness: through the lusts of their own hearts . The heart of man is the source of all wickedness; the lusts that dwell there are many, and these tend to uncleanness of one sort or another: by it here is meant particularly bodily uncleanness, since it is said they... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 1:25

Who changed the truth of God into a lie ,.... Not the truth of the Gospel, which they were unacquainted with; but that which might be known of God as true, and was known of them by the light of nature; or the true God himself, whom they "changed into a lie"; by ascribing to false deities, which were lying vanities, those things which were known of God; and by worshipping them instead of him: for they worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator ; or "above him" or "against... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 1:18

For the wrath of God is revealed - The apostle has now finished his preface, and comes to the grand subject of the epistle; namely, to show the absolute need of the Gospel of Christ, because of the universal corruption of mankind; which was so great as to incense the justice of God, and call aloud for the punishment of the world He shows that all the heathen nations were utterly corrupt, and deserved this threatened punishment. And this is the subject of the first chapter, from Romans... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 1:19

That which may be known of God - Dr. Taylor paraphrases this and the following verse thus: "Although the Gentiles had no written revelation, yet what may be known of God is every where manifest among them, God having made a clear discovery of himself to them. For his being and perfections, invisible to our bodily eyes, have been, ever since the creation of the world, evidently to be seen, if attentively considered, in the visible beauty, order, and operations observable in the constitution... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 1:20

The invisible things of him - His invisible perfections are manifested by his visible works, and may be apprehended by what he has made; their immensity showing his omnipotence, their vast variety and contrivance, his omniscience; and their adaptation to the most beneficent purposes, his infinite goodness and philanthropy. His eternal power - αιδιος αυτου δυναμις , That all-powerful energy that ever was, and ever will exist; so that, ever since there was a creation to be surveyed,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 1:21

Because that when they knew God - When they thus acquired a general knowledge of the unity and perfections of the Divine nature, they glorified him not as God - they did not proclaim him to the people, but shut up his glory (as Bishop Warburton expresses it) in their mysteries, and gave the people, in exchange for an incorruptible God, an image made like to corruptible man. Wherefore God, in punishment for their sins, thus turning his truth into a lie, suffered even their mysteries, which... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 1:22

Professing themselves to be wise - This is most strikingly true of all the ancient philosophers, whether Greeks or Romans, as their works, which remain, sufficiently testify. The word φασκοντες signifies not merely the professing but the assumption of the philosophic character. In this sense the word φασκειν is used by the best Greek writers. See Kypke. A dispassionate examination of the doctrine and lives of the most famed philosophers of antiquity, of every nation, will show that they... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 1:23

They changed the glory, etc. - The finest representation of their deities was in the human figure; and on such representative figures the sculptors spent all their skill; hence the Hercules of Farnese, the Venus of Medicis, and the Apollo of Belvidere. And when they had formed their gods according to the human shape, they endowed them with human passions; and as they clothed them with attributes of extraordinary strength, beauty, wisdom, etc., not having the true principles of morality, they... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 1:24

God - gave them up, etc. - They had filled up the measure of their iniquities, and God, by permitting them to plunge into all manner of irregularities, thus, by one species of sin, inflicted punishment on another. Dishonour their own bodies - Probably alluding here to what is more openly expressed, Romans 1:26 , Romans 1:27 . Between themselves - εν εαυτοις , Of themselves, of their own free accord; none inciting, none impelling. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 1:25

Changed the truth of God into a lie - In the place of the true worship of God, they established idolatry. In various places of Scripture idols are termed lies. Isaiah 44:20 ; Jeremiah 10:14 ; Jeremiah 13:25 . The true God was known among the primitive inhabitants of the earth, those who first became idolaters literally changed the truth of God into a lie: they did know the true God, but they put idols in his place. read more

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