logabe said:
I think the key in verse 18 is "who hold the truth in unrighteousness". In other words,
these were people that were called out by God, but took the truth they were taught and used
it in a fleshly manner, such as, showing partiality to other races or other religions.
Logabe,
That's not what the text states. We need to see Rom 1:18b (ESV), 'who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth', in light of Rom 1:17(ESV), 'the righteousness of God is revealed' and Rom 1:18a (ESV), 'the wrath of God is revealed from heaven'.
We would expect v. 18 in the Greek to begin with a strong adversative, but, or however. That is not what happens. Verse 18 is connected to the previous verses with the word, 'for', which is normally used to give the reason for the previous statement. It seems that 'for' is used to provide the explanation of what Paul has just said.
Why has God revealed his righteousness (1:18a) and revealed his wrath against unrighteousness? Because there are those, who in their unrighteousness suppress the truth of God. The wrath for unrighteousness is not against believers (the righteous) but against unbelievers (the unrighteous).
Many don't like the idea of the wrath of God against unbelievers. In the early church, Marcion censored 'of God' from v. 18 because he didn't like the idea of the wrath of God against unrighteousness [see what Tertullian thought of what Marcin did in Tertullian,
The Prescription against Heretics 38].
In the 20th century, C H Dodd did it by modifying the biblical concept of the wrath of God [C. H. Dodd,
The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, 2nd ed. (London and Glasgow: Collins, 1959), pp. 47-50].
I suggest that you have imposed your personal view on the text of Rom 1:18 (ESV) rather than listening to what the grammar of the text in context states.
Oz