Romans 1:32

Knowing. The word implies “full knowledge” (cf. on v. 28).

Judgment. Gr. dikaioma, “ordinance,” “decree.” Paul is referring to the righteous sentence of God that declares what is right and wrong and connects death with sin and life with righteousness. This decree is revealed not only in in the OT but also in the conscience of every man (ch. 2:14-16).

Paul has clearly emphasized in this first chapter that the sins of the heathen were committed in the face of considerable knowledge about God (vs. 19-21, 25, 28).

Commit. Better, “practice.” The Greek implies repeated and continued action.

Worthy of death. This does not refer to civil justice but rather to the fatal consequences of sin (ch. 6:23).

Have pleasure. Or, “heartily approve,” “applaud.” The word describes more than a passive assent to evil; it suggests an active consent and approval (see Acts 8:1; 22:20). The climax of Paul’s catalogue of sins is the depraved wickedness of deriving satisfaction from the evil practices of others. So far does man degenerate when he refuses to know and honor the true God.

Paul’s dark picture of heathen corruption can be verified from the secular writings of the 1st century. One of the most frequently quoted descriptions of the iniquity prevailing in Paul’s day is that of Seneca, a contemporary of Paul, who in his work De Ira ii. 9. 1 declares: “Every place is full of crime and vice; too many crimes are committed to be cured by any possible restraint. Men struggle in a mighty rivalry of wickedness. Every day the desire for wrong-doing is greater, the dread of it less; all regard for what is better and more just is banished, lust hurls itself wherever it likes, and crimes are now no longer covert. They stalk before our very eyes, and wickedness has come to such a public state, has gained such power over the hearts of all, that innocence is not rare — it is nonexistent” (Loeb ed Moral Essays, vol. 1, p. 183). See also the Wisdom of Solomon 14:22-30. Compare DA 36, 37.

For 4,000 years the experiment as to whether man could save himself by his own works had been carried on. “The principle that man can save himself by his own works lay at the foundation of every heathen religion” (DA 35). Now it had become clearly apparent that another plan of salvation was required. “Satan was exulting that he had succeeded in debasing the image of God in humanity. Then Jesus came to restore in man the image of his Maker” (DA 37, 38; see Gal. 4:4, 5). The good news that man’s condition is not hopeless but that righteousness is available to all who have faith in Christ was Paul’s message of hope to the heathen world. This is the “gospel of Christ,” the theme of this epistle to the believers in Rome.