Unrestrained Evil

Paul closes this section of Romans with several more quotations from the Psalms and Proverbs. One notable feature of these particular verses is the bodily imagery they employ: They speak of the human throat, tongue, lips, mouth, feet, and eyes. Taken together, they form something of a catalog of vices, much like what Paul presented at the end of chapter 1. Thus the apostle rests his case for the universal sinfulness of human beings.

Verses 13 and 14 seem to be addressing sins of speech. What we might call “words of death”—false teaching or heresy—come from the throats of natural men. Their tongues practice all sorts of deceit, telling lies. Their lips distribute “ ‘poison,’ ” false ideas about God and the world. And they speak words of “ ‘cursing and bitterness,’ ” harsh words that wound others. In these ways they help to encourage others in doing the “things … deserving of death” (Rom. 1:32).

Verses 15 through 17 apparently encompass violent acts. Paul is saying that people are naturally prone to strike and injure or kill one another. They want nothing to do with the peaceful way of God; instead, they follow a path of destruction and misery, which they bring upon themselves and others.

Verse 18 is both an indictment and an explanation of why corrupt humanity exhibits all its other sad symptoms. Dr. James M. Boice writes: “In the Bible, the word fear, when used of God, denotes a right and reverential frame of mind before Him. It has to do with worshiping Him, obeying Him, and departing from evil.” Of course, as we have seen repeatedly, these are the things sinful human beings refuse to do. Instead, they spurn God, wanting nothing to do with Him. They not only refuse to look to God, they run from Him as fast as they possibly can. And as they go—again, just as we saw in Romans 1—they stumble down the slope into deeper and deeper depravity. The tragedy is that, if the fear of God were present, man never would descend so low. John Calvin, as quoted by Boice, summarizes the situation most aptly: “All wickedness flows from a disregard of God.… Since the fear of God is the bridle by which our wickedness is held back, its removal frees us to indulge in every kind of licentious conduct.” Unchecked by the fear of God, sin runs wild.