Romans 1:32 describes people who know that God’s righteous standard condemns certain behaviors, yet who not only continue in those behaviors but also applaud others who do them. The verse is part of the apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, and in it Paul is describing the moral condition of humanity apart from God, as the opening chapter of the letter builds toward his larger argument about sin and grace.
Who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
Romans 1:32 (WEB)
What Romans 1:32 Means
The verse begins with the phrase “knowing the ordinance of God,” which refers to a clear moral reality that people are able to perceive. Paul is not saying these people have a Bible in hand. He is saying that God’s requirements are known to them in some real way, through conscience and through the created order that Paul discusses just before this passage. The knowledge is there, even when it is suppressed.
The verse then says that those who practice such things are “worthy of death.” In Paul’s usage this is a statement about the just consequence of sin before God, not a comment about how a particular community should punish offenders. The verse does not promise that every wrongdoer will be struck down immediately, and it does not tell us who is or is not a believer. It names a standard and a result.
Finally, Paul describes a double failure: people do these things, and they also cheer on those who do them. Approval is the heart of the problem here, because it means the conscience has been recalibrated to call evil good. The verse is less about a single act of sin than about a settled attitude that makes sin feel normal and even admirable to others.
The Context of Romans 1:32
The letter to the Romans was written by Paul, traditionally dated to around the middle of the first century, to a mixed congregation of Jewish and Gentile believers in the capital city of the Roman Empire. Paul had not yet visited Rome when he wrote, and his aim was to set out the gospel in a systematic way. The first chapters establish that all people, Gentile and Jewish alike, stand under God’s judgment, which prepares the reader for the good news of justification by faith.
The verses immediately before Romans 1:32 list a long catalog of vices, from envy and deceit to disobedience to parents and a lack of natural affection. The verses that follow move toward a sober warning about God’s judgment. Read in that setting, Romans 1:32 is the climax of the catalog. Its point is not that certain people are uniquely wicked, but that human hearts left to themselves drift toward both doing wrong and celebrating it, which is exactly the situation Paul’s gospel is meant to address.
Key Phrases in Romans 1:32
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God…
(WEB)
This verse states that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, which shows that the diagnosis begun in chapter one applies to everyone, including the reader.
Romans 2:1
Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things.
(WEB)
Paul turns to the one who judges others while doing the same things, reminding readers that the warning of chapter one also presses upon those who condemn it.
A Short Prayer From Romans 1:32
Lord, you have written your righteous standard on human hearts, and you have shown me that I can know what is right. Forgive me for the times I have approved of what you call wrong, whether by silence, by laughter, or by applause. Teach me to love what is good and to speak the truth with humility. Thank you that the gospel does not leave me in my sin but opens a way back to you through Christ. Give me courage to stand with what is right, and mercy for those who are still caught in the same drift. Amen.
