The first word of this passage is the word “for,” which should cause readers to look back to what Paul covered just prior to verse 18. What do you recall from last week’s study that sets up the second half of this chapter?

Verse 18 opens sharply, speaking immediately of God’s wrath. What is your understanding of the wrath of God? When you think of God’s wrath, what do you imagine?

Paul uses two important words in verse 18: godlessness and unrighteousness. J.D. defined them as “wrong attitudes toward God” and a “corruption in our horizontal relationships,” respectively. What are some of the wrong attitudes toward God that you notice in our culture today? What wrong attitudes toward God do you notice in your own heart?

Like the Roman Gentiles Paul describes in this passage, we’ve also engaged in godless and unrighteous behavior. We “suppress the truth,” even though God has revealed himself to us. In what ways does the text say God has made the truth about himself “clearly seen”? In your own experience, how has “what he has made” served as a witness to the truth about God for you?

J.D. also said that God has revealed himself “in us.” How has God revealed himself to you in your life?

Suppressing the truth, J.D. said, takes one of three forms: disobedience (we rebel against the knowledge we have), distortion (we reshape God into someone we can manage and manipulate), or denial (we deny that he exists). Which of these three forms of suppression are you most prone to? How do you overcome the tendency to suppress the truth about God?

 From the end of verse 20 through verse 23, the descent is steep. Paul says that people without faith in God failed to glorify him or show gratitude, that their thinking became worthless and their hearts became darkened, and that they gave in to foolishness, trading the glory of God for images of created things. In what ways is Paul’s assessment of those who do not live by faith still true to this day? What are some examples?

“Therefore” is another important word worth noting when studying Scripture, and it’s the word that Paul uses to begin verse 24. Like the word “for,” “therefore” connects what Paul is about to write with what he’s just written. In one sentence, how would you summarize verses 18–23?

In the next several verses, Paul uses the phrase “God delivered them over” three times to communicate what God’s wrath looks like. How does Paul’s picture of God’s wrath compare with how you’ve imagined it? What are some of the things God delivers sinful people over to? 

Prior to receiving the gospel, what things had God delivered you over to?

Verse 25 ends this section with a three-fold indictment. It says that people have 1) exchanged the truth of God for a lie and have 2) worshiped and 3) served what’s been created instead of God. What lies about our purpose, hope, and security are we prone to trust instead of God? What kinds of created things are we prone to serve when we believe the lies of our world? Why is it so damaging to build your life on a lie?

Having once again described those without faith as “delivered over” by God to disgraceful passions and a corrupt mind, Paul moves on to list in verses 29–31 the forms of unrighteousness unbelievers are filled with. What behaviors in Paul’s list stand out to you? Are any of these descriptions reflective of your own behavior? If so, which ones?

J.D. grouped each item on Paul’s list into categories, from sexual and economic corruption to social, spiritual, and family corruption—they cover “every facet of our lives.” Why is it important to recognize that no part of our lives is untouched by sin?

Paul closes Romans 1 by acknowledging that in our unrighteousness, we not only do these sinful deeds but also “applaud others who practice them.” Why do you think people take such pleasure in the unrighteousness of others?

The problem of unrighteousness can only be remedied by what we learned in session 1—the gospel in verses 16–17. Thinking back to the previous session, what is the only way for us to be made right with God? In what ways does the truth from Romans 1:16–17 offer us hope as we study the problem of unrighteousness?

Think about the depth of unrighteousness Paul describes in this passage. Now reflect on the power of the gospel and the means by which God grants us his righteousness—faith. How does living by faith in God lead us to grieve our sin, submit to God’s truth, and obey him? What could it look like to commit yourself to these practices in the upcoming week as a means of living by faith?