Romans 1 is a very POWERFUL opening to this amazing
letter from Paul to the Christians in Rome. He opens with a reminder that we
are called by Jesus Christ "...through whom
we have received grace and apostleship
to bring
about the obedience
of faith among all
the Gentiles for His name’s sake." This one is also
very timely.
Verse 16 and 17... If you remember nothing else from
this book... remember this: "For I am not ashamed
of the gospel, for it
is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew
first and also to the
Greek. For in it the
righteousness of God is revealed from
faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous
man shall live by
faith.”" Remember that the gospel is SALVATION to everyone
who believes... if someone does not know the gospel, they are probably doomed
(although God is the judge, not me)... I am just re-stating what the Word says.
For your loved ones and friends, you might be the only gospel truth that they
ever "read" or hear from, keep that in mind.
*Phase 1: Idolatry*
Starting in v. 18 Paul leads us through a chilling
account of the road to moral depravity. I fear for our country and the world in
general today because I believe that we are very far through this process...
read on... V. 18-20 makes it clear that God has provided us with evidence of
his being, "His eternal power and divine nature" so people are without excuse
when they exchange the truth of God for a lie (v.25) coming fools" (v.22) they
make idols rather than acknowledge God. They exchanged the Glory of immortal
God for images resembling mortal man, etc.
**Phase 2: Sexual Immorality**
v. 24 Therefore, God delivered them over in the cravings
of their hearts to sexual impurity... v.26 so God "delivered them over to
degrading passions..." sexual immorality. Well, duh, all you need to do is
watch any network TV station for about 15 minutes and it is obvious from the
programs and commercials that we are in this stage. You've heard the phrase
"sex sells" and sexual immorality is the norm these days. Sexually charged
media, shows, behavior, music, etc permeate our society and it's hard to get
through the day without at least having temptation and lust, it doesn’t make it
any easier. (remember, don't exchange the truth of God for a lie) The increase and permeation of homosexuality into our society is a
direct result of this as well. v. 26-27 says "For
this reason God
gave them over to degrading
passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,
and in the same way also the men
abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward
one another, men
with men committing indecent
acts and receiving in their
own persons the due penalty of their error." Make no mistake: the
Bible is clear that homosexual behavior is sexual impurity and sin. Even if
someone is "born" with the propensity (tendency or craving) for homosexual
behavior, it is still sin. Because of the physical bodies that we have, we
obviously have a choice to make: follow our lustful "cravings of our hearts to
sexual impurity" or as "Righteous Live by Faith", seeking forgiveness and
following God's law because of the Grace that He gave us, choosing to use our
bodies wisely and within God's intended design.**
**...the bottom line: we are all born into sin. lust
and immoral sexual behavior are sin. Immoral sexual behavior is that which is
described outside of God's law (adultery, sex outside of marriage of one man and
one woman. See Matthew 19:5, Genesis 2:24, and many other scriptures) Sin is
sin. I am sinful... you are sinful... this is why we need forgiveness and a
savior.
***Phase 3: A Depraved Mind... Society collapses
***
v.28... "and because they did not think it worthwhile to
acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is
morally wrong." A "worthless mind" is a "depraved mind". ...they are filled
with "all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. they are full of envy,
murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters,
arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful."... it goes so far as to
even say that they will "...applaud others who practice them." I watch with
dread the news lately. Increasing incidents of senseless violence, and I am
afraid it will get worse as our society slides down this slippery slope of a
depraved and worthless mind.
Dear reader, I urge you to pray and dwell on this. We
must know the TRUTH... and we should not exchange the truth for a lie! The only
place to find God's truth is in his Word, the Bible. Put this to the test...
test God in this and He will confirm it in your heart. Remember Colossians 2:8
"See to it that no one takes you captive through
philosophy
and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary
principles of the world, rather
than according to Christ."
I pray that you will become strong in your knowledge of
the Truth by studying this letter to the Romans as we continue into Chapter 2,
next time...
-atg-
