Romans 1:31 (DRB)

Passage

Foolish, dissolute: without affection, without fidelity, without mercy.

Nearby Context

Romans 1:29 Being filled with all iniquity, malice, fornication, avarice, wickedness: full of envy, murder, contention, deceit, malignity: whisperers,

Romans 1:30 Detractors, hateful to God, contumelious, proud, haughty, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

Romans 1:31 Foolish, dissolute: without affection, without fidelity, without mercy.

Romans 1:32 Who, having known the justice of God, did not understand that they who do such things, are worthy of death: and not only they that do them, but they also that consent to them that do them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "mercy", "foolish", "dissolute", "without", "affection", and "fidelity". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "mercy" and "foolish", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 30's "Detractors hateful to God contumelious proud haughty..." into verse 32's "Who having known the justice of God...", so "mercy" and "foolish" belong inside that flow. In Romans context, the local focus is righteousness by faith, union with Christ, life in the Spirit, and God's covenant faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "mercy" and "foolish" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.