September 28, 2011
The Wrath of God
Romans 1:18-32
I. Revelation of the Wrath of God 1:18-20
II. Reasons for the Wrath of God 1: 21-23
III. Results of the Wrath of God 1: 24-32
Charles Swindoll says that during his hitch in the Marines, back in 1958, he was stationed in Okinawa, where there was a sanitarium for people who had leprosy. At that time, he was playing in, the 3rd Division Marine Corps Band------and they were asked to do a performance, at the sanitarium. The facility was on the north part of the island and it was situated about as far from the main part of civilization, as it could be. After traveling a good distance across the island, on a road, that was not much more than a ditch, through the jungle---- and after crossing 2 bridges and several gates---- he found himself, in the interior of the sanitarium compound. He was shocked by what he saw-----he was totally unprepared for the sights, sounds and smells that he experienced. He saw paws instead of fingers and stumps instead of hands. He saw people with only half of their faces--------there were many people, with only one ear or one eye. He saw the dregs of society; the world's ultimate outcasts-------most of them were so crippled by the disease, they couldn't even applaud the performance. He saw in the faces of men and women and even some teenagers, an anguish that couldn't be described in words. The band, could play music for them, but there was nothing they could do, to cleanse them of the disease.
He understood, then, why the scripture uses leprosy, as a clear picture of sin-------because sin destroys a person, spiritually, emotionally and physically, from the inside out, just like leprosy does.
Because of sin, man has taken:
the deity out of religion; the supernatural out of Christianity; the authority out of the Bible; God out of education; morality and virtue out of literature; beauty and truth out of art; ethics out of business; and fidelity out of marriage.
And just like the bible always speaks about, cleansing people of leprosy, not healing them of it--------a person can't be healed from being a sinner, like they have a illness-----only Jesus' blood has the power to cleanse sin from a person's heart and from their lives."
Jesus saw mankind in their sin and He was moved to such great compassion and love, that He chose to take that sin on Himself, so that He could spare us from hell, and give us, the renewed perfection, of the relationship we were created to have, with God the Father.
In our study this week, we have to remember that Paul is trying to establish his authority with the Romans, as an apostle, so he starts from the beginning of what he knows to be true----- explaining to them what he knows about God, and about Jesus and about mankind. He isn't yelling at them or accusing them, personally, of the sins that he lays out------Paul just wanted to make sure, right up front, that the Roman church, completely understood why it was necessary, for Jesus to provide the power of the Gospel, for mankind.
So, Romans 1:18-32, paints a picture of the human sin predicament, in front of a holy God. When these verses are read out loud, they sound a lot like a list of charges, being read in court. Paul says that all people, everywhere, from generations past and generations forward, deserve God's condemnation, for their sin. He says that mankind knows that they haven't acknowledged their creator and have deliberately disobeyed His standards, and the consequences have been disastrous. Mankind has ignored faith in God alone and they have ignored God's way of thinking and his methods of doing things. They've chosen to worship what has been created, rather than the Creator, and they've perverted their relationships with each other. Paul says that mankind stands guilty as charged and is in need of a Savior.
I. Revelation of the Wrath of God 1:18-20
If we are going to truly understand sin, in the way that God and Paul want us to, we have to recognize that God's wrath is a part of His love---- God's love hates anything that harms those that He loves. His love makes Him take action, to protect the innocent from evil. God's love makes Him a firm disciplinarian, when He's disobeyed, because a law without consequences, is not a law at all. God's love contains the capacity for anger. But it isn't the human kind where we lose our tempers and and wind up yelling at every body in sight. God's anger is consistent with His character and it's a passionate outrage against wrongdoing-----it is without question, fearsome, but it's controlled, deliberate, measured, patient and completely just.
God's wrath is nothing less and nothing more than the outworking of His righteous character and His unfailing love, in the presence of evil, for His greatest creation, us. Which is why He didn't stand idly by, when sin first came into the world-----He sought Adam and Eve out, he gained a confession from them, He disciplined them----He gave them hope of salvation in the future, and then he did the most loving thing He could have, for them--he sent them out of the Garden and blocked the entrance back in, not to punish them, but to protect them from the Tree of Life, cause he didn't want them to eat from that tree and then live forever, in their sin.
God's righteousness is the key to His wrath----and it's an aspect of His character-----it's His standard of behavior and its a one-word description of all the blessings, that He wants to give us, especially a relationship with Him. His standard of conduct is not arbitrary. God didn't sit down one day, and come up with a list of all the ways that He could spoil mankind's fun------the rules for living, that He's handed down to us, are born out of His nature, as the sovereign and supreme power of the Universe----and He alone can define what is good and what is not. For instance----if God were a liar, then lying would be righteous. But He isn't, He's truth, so that makes lying a sin, because it is contrary to His character.
God's wrath, is the response of His holiness, to all ungodliness, wickedness and rebellion. Ungodliness refers to a lack of reverence for God, which leads to an attitude of disrespect and even contempt, for Him. Unrighteousness refers to unjust actions between people, which leads, again, to an attitude of disrespect and contempt for God, because it negates the truth, that man should be treated with kindness and love, because he's created in God's image. So, this means that ungodliness and unrighteousness, not only violate God's rules of conduct, but, worse than that, they utterly reject God, Himself. God is angry with sin because it causes people to substitute the truth about Him, with a made-up version of who they think He is or who they want Him to be. Mankind, as a whole, has suppressed the truth that God naturally reveals to everyone, in order to believe anything, that will support their own self-centered thought processes and lifestyles.
The word picture that is painted by the word "suppressed", shows a man who is struggling to keep the lid of a container closed, so that whatever is in it, can't escape. The sin of humanity, tries to suppress the will of God; sin keeps the world from working as God originally intended for it to. Disease and natural disasters do create havoc, but the great majority of the world's evil is instigated and perpetuated, by people sinning against each other-----things like murder, theft, hostility between nations and violence in the home, are things we're all horrified by, but there is also gossip, slander, disrespect, anger, bad attitudes, arrogance, jealousy, judgmentalness and whispering, that are equally bad, if not worse . People, unfortunately choose to suppress their innate knowledge of the Creator-------they forget that there is created, in every person, a God-shaped hole, that can only be filled by Him-----which is as much a part of our spiritual composition, as DNA is, of our physical composition. God created people so that He could have a close and meaningful relationship with them, and this need has caused everyone, ever born, throughout time, to instinctively, seek the Creator------if they willfully push that desire down and purposely ignore that innate knowledge of Him, they will try to fill that hole, in all the wrong ways and in all the wrong places.
Puny human beings strut around like there is no God or they try to elevate themselves to God's level. They choose to forget that He is the Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of the world and that He deserves to be worshiped and to be obeyed. Attempts to suppress the truth go back to Adam and Eve in the garden, when they first tried to hide from God and then they tried to blame Him, for their wrongdoing. Both of those things were evidence of their rebellion. The tendency to cover up our rebellion and to avoid sin's consequences, is still the way we operate---without the Gospel and the Holy Spirit living in us and working through us, there is no way we could keep from suppressing the truth------we would just be at the mercy of our own wickedness.
God cannot tolerate sin-------He cannot and He will not be, where sin is, because He is morally perfect. He wants to remove all sin and to restore the sinner, to Himself, but he can't do that if the sinner, rejects or suppresses the truth. He is a gentleman, He doesn't force anyone to do what they don't want to do. That's why He created us with free-will-----he doesn't want to have to mandate our love for Him-----if He did that, it wouldn't really be love, it would be coercion. Mankind replaces worshipping God, with the worship of the things of this world that can bring financial, personal and professional success. They ignore God in their daily lives and devote themselves to their families, their careers and even their leisure and entertainment activities. They don't trust Him to take care of them, because they don't take the time to get to know Him.
But the reality of God can only be avoided so long. God has enveloped us in the evidence of His handiwork. If we gaze into deep space through a telescope, we can see the reality of His size and power. If we peer through the lens of a microscope, we can see the reality of His comprehensive intelligence. John Calvin wrote, "By saying that God has made it manifest, He means, that man was created to be spectator of this formed world, and that eyes were given him, that he might, by looking on so beautiful a picture, be led to the Author, Himself."
The truth of God surrounds us and must eventually be faced----either willingly or unwillingly.
Paul says that God made the truth about Himself very plain---that it is obvious for all to see, even those who don't want to. There is no excuse! God's glory and His workmanship is on display throughout the universe. Every person can read the revelation of God, if they choose to. God could have kept humans in ignorance about Himself, if He had wanted to, but He didn't! He wants us to know Him--------He longs for us to know Him! God chose to reveal Himself to us, by creating a desire for Him, in our hearts, personally; and by displaying His power through nature to us, generally; and by giving us Jesus and the Gospel and the scripture and the Holy Spirit to us, specifically. God has made it so easy for us to find Him, that there is no one who is without excuse.
(Ray Stedman, a contemporary Bible commentator, says that one night he and his daughter, Laurie, were taking a walk in the mountains of Southern California. They were away from the city smog and the sky was filled with millions of stars. He pointed out the Milky Way and explained to her that it was part of the galaxy that our sun belongs to. He told her that there were millions of galaxies just like it in distant parts of the universe that have never been explored by human beings. He pointed out the Big Dipper and the North Star and the Pleiades Cluster and they talked about the vastness and beauty of the universe. He jokingly told her to remember, though, that it had all happened purely by chance----- and He says that she immediately began to laugh!)--------We should all laugh too, it's ridiculous for anyone to think that the vast array of beauty and complexity that we are privileged to observe, could have occurred by sheer chance! How can we say that the intricacies of a computer can only have been made as the result of intelligence and skill----------and then say that a universe can arise and a baby can be conceived and born and a rose can bloom and that it was just luck or happenstance. The idea is ridiculous! But there have been, many many people, influential people, down through the centuries, who have made that claim. They willfully suppress the truth that stares them in the face.
Psalm 19:1-4 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night, they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world." One look at creation, in all of its splendor, tells people that a mighty power made this world----- not just an abstract, impersonal force, but a very personal God. But knowing that God exists is not enough. ("Nature says there is a God, and it points to the seasons and the stars and the sun, but mankind needs more than that, they need a personal redeemer, and nature, alone, can't satisfy that need, because nature can't give forgiveness. Nature can't teach us any moral codes of behavior----tribes of people have lived with nature for centuries and and have produced cannibals and savages. Nature has a voice, but it doesn't have a heart------and it can't offer the solution to man's sin problem. Nature doesn't tell us about the Savior. Creation tells us about the work of God's hands, but only the Cross can unveil His heart.")
People have to learn that God is loving and they have to develop a relationship with Him, through Jesus--they have to be shown that they are sinners and they have to know the way that they can get forgiveness for their sins. That is why it is important for those of us who know the truth, to take seriously, the responsibility to go and tell. We can point out what sin is; we can explain the need for a Savior; we can testify to the truth of the Gospel in our own hearts and we can introduce Jesus. Instead of suppressing the truth, we have the privilege to proclaim it.
(Tell the story of Peter, the atheist in New Hampshire who said he couldn't explain the beauty of nature that surrounded him, even though he didn't believe in God and believed that after you die, there is nothing--I told Him to start there, with "In the beginning God….I still pray for Peter.)
II. Reasons for the Wrath of God 1: 21-23
In these verses, Paul tells us how human beings suppress the truth about God, in a 3-step, spiraling-downward, process 1.) they fail to glorify God and to give thanks to Him. 2.) They claim to be wise, when really they don't have a clue 3.) They exchange the glory of the immortal God, for images that they make to look like themselves or something that God created.
Step 1.) People fail to glorify God and give thanks to Him:
We can see the truth of this, everyday, in our world. The evidence of it can be seen throughout American society, where prayer has been banned, corporately, from public schools and where Christmas is now called "WInter Break" and Easter is "Spring Break" and where the words "under God" have been edited out of the pledge of Allegiance in some states and where we have to fight to display the 10 Commandments in our court houses and other public buildings. God isn't welcome in the public square, any more. There does need to be separation of church and state, just like our forefathers had mandated---- but that doesn't mean that we root God out, that means that we let people worship Him freely, wherever they are, with no interference from the government. The powers that rule our society may not want to abolish God completely, but they do want to put him up on a shelf and just take Him down when they need to ask a favor. They don't glorify Him as God, and they don't give Him thanks.
Paul says that as a result, their thinking has become futile. Futile thinking is human ideas, and schemes and plans and institutions, and programs, that seem so smart, but ultimately come to nothing. We are so struggling with the government programs in this country, right now-------welfare, medicare and social security, just to name a few, that no decisions can be made in congress, because nobody is willing to back down from their ideas or their ideals, long enough, to try and reach some compromises, that would be in the best interests, of the country, as a whole. These human programs all began with good intentions and brilliant planning and shining promises, but as all good ideas do, that don't have God at the center, they will end in dismal failure. Because, the truth is, in the end, it isn't about the government programs, or the separation of church and state-----it's about the hearts for God, of the individuals, who live in this country-------the hearts who are willing to glorify God and give Him thanks.
Paul says that "their foolish hearts were darkened", Human hearts can be darkened by cynicism and selfishness. When a heart becomes dark, it doesn't see human need and it loses its ability to feel and exercise compassion------it just shrugs and turns away----it doesn't see the plight of others, as an opportunity to reach out and show them the love of God, by helping where and when it can. The inevitable result of ignoring God is a hard heart.
Step 2.) People claim to be wise. They place their own, human wisdom above the wisdom of God. They claim to know everything that can be known and just wind up looking like fools. Their foolish futility of thought, doesn't just distract them from seeking and praising and thanking their Creator, it causes them to twist God's creation, into something that is grotesque and ugly. (The poem,"The Sorcerer's Apprentice", was written by Goethe, (Go-tay) in 1797, and it tells the imaginary tale, of a student magician, who takes up the wand of his master, and because of his lack of knowledge and his disregard for his master's wisdom, unleashes frightening powers, that he can't control.) Our scientists, "the wise men of today" claim to have a godlike understanding of biology and chemistry and physics, but the reality is, their wisdom has brought us to the brink of runaway biological, ecological and nuclear catastrophes. These "apprentice sorcerers" have unleashed destructive forces upon our world----forces that are not only beyond our control, but are also beyond our imagining. Claiming to be wise, they have become dangerous and destructive fools.
Without answers based on the reality of God, people seek heroes, from among the people in the world, who will say that God doesn't have any answers. In a sophisticated society, to refuse to acknowledge God's existence, or to put Him on a level playing field, with the false gods of other religions, is seen as a sign of intelligence. But by biblical definition, anyone who says, that that they can't believe, that the God of the Bible is real or is the only way-----is admitting to the world, that they are fools.
Paul was speaking to a world that was tolerant of anything and everything that people wanted to believe. It was a world that was inundated with millions of different gods. There have always been people who say that it doesn't really matter if you believe in Jesus and in God---- all that matters, is that you believe in something. People who have that kind of mentality, though, may be scholars with incredible minds and they may be lauded by their peers, as enlightened and politically-correct thinkers----- but the Bible says they're fools. These people make the mistake of assuming that mankind is at the center of the universe, but they are wrong, it isn't about us, it's about God. I don't care what kind of religion a person practices, or what kind of belief system they have, if God isn't at the center of it, it isn't anything but foolishness, and it will never give a person, true peace, or true comfort, or true guidance or true salvation.
Christians know that God won't force anyone to accept the truth of His Word, so we know that we can't force people to accept the Gospel or believe in the inerrancy of the scripture, either. But, we can be unashamed of the Gospel and unashamed of the truth that Jesus Christ is the answer to every question, ever asked, and we can tell them that! We can't coerce, but it is our responsibility to convince. We can't be someone's Holy Spirit, but we can be the voice that they need to hear.
Step 3.) People exchange the glory of the immortal God for images that mimic mortal man. There is a descending order that gets lower and lower, the deeper into the sin of idolatry, that a person goes----starts with man---sinks to birds---- then to animals---and then finally to reptiles. When human beings stop worshiping God, they begin to worship their own humanity and in a downward spiral they will eventually wind up worshiping snakes. The creature is worshiped or what the creature creates is worshiped, instead of the Creator.
We like to think that people don't worship idols anymore, but that's a lie------that's what all the reality shows are about------the glorification of what man can do------its why movie stars and pop stars and sports heroes are called icons or idols and why they can garner millions of dollars a year, from their public. Famous people with their glittering images are worshiped today and they are given the honor and glory that should be given to God. There are other temporal things we worship today, too: power---(military, corporate, political and economic), money, sex, success, beauty, youth, children, things, shopping, intellect, education, popularity, exercise and extreme adventure.) We worship the things that God, or even man, has made, instead of God Himself.
We are all susceptible to ungodly worship, and we need to constantly guard against it.
(Humanity has a stubborn habit of looking to the gift rather than the Giver, for fulfillment. The ancient Egyptians thrived in the fertile Nile Delta region because the river overflowed its banks every year and revitalized the soil. They also understood the vital role of the sun in growing their crops. But instead of thanking the Creator, of the soil and the sun and the river-----they worshiped the sun and the river. They invented elaborate myths to explain the origins of the river and sun and gave them personalities to account for their cycles. Then they presumed to bribe those objects of creation with sacrifices, believing that they possessed the power to give or take life.) To our modern world this sounds ridiculous and we look at it as superstition and ignorance -------but the truth is, every single one of us, from time to time, have confused the gift with the Giver. We look to our paychecks for provision and to our livelihoods for security and we forget that it isn't bread that keeps us alive, it's the God who provides it.
We trade the one true God for one of our own making-----our fallen nature prefers a Creator who doesn't hold us accountable for wrongdoing and who will wait passively for us to reinstitute our relationship with Him, when we've grown tired of our sin. But God is not a passive God----He will hold us accountable for sin, whether we acknowledge His presence or not. And the consequences of rejecting Him, in favor of idol worship, is far worse than anything we want to imagine.
III.) Results of the Wrath of God 1:24-32
Tough love is tough on everybody! Good parents don't enjoy disciplining their children and if the truth be told------they actually hate it! And churches have to sometimes take a strong stand when a member refuses to stop behavior that is self-destructive, or damaging to their family or clearly dishonoring to God. If we genuinely love someone, we can't stay passive and let sin destroy the sinner and everyone affected by their sinful behavior. We may not be responsible for the choices of another person, but we can refuse to tolerate their destructive behavior. We have to love the sinner, but we have to hate the sin. We have to make sure, that they understand, that we love them but that we don't condone whatever their sin is. This is the approach that God has taken with sinful man. Humanity's rejection of God, left Him no other choice but to pronounce judgement and He did this by "giving over" mankind to their sin.
Theologians call this "judicial abandonment" and have described it in 2 different ways:
1.) as a passive forsaking of humanity to the consequences of their evil intentions. In response to their straining at the leash, God just releases His grip and allows them to run headlong into sin and its consequences, which allows them to wallow in their lusts. But this is only part of what judicial abandonment is, cause there is nothing passive about God and how he feels about the people of the world and sin.
2.) as an active decision, not passive neglect. God hands them over to their lust, not out of frustration or resignation, but to accomplish a specific purpose. He wants them to miss what they have in Him and come willingly back to Him.
In an unexpected way, God is proving His love, by letting go. If nothing else, having to face the consequences of our sin, proves to us, that our choices matter. God's purpose for turning man over to their own impurity is redemptive. Our awareness of sin is a golden opportunity for repentance.
As if to illustrate the slippery slope of sin, Paul used the phrase, "God gave them over…" 3 times, which describes increasingly degrading and damaging behavior and is an example of how one sin leads to another. God gave them over: 1.) to impurity (sinful desires), 2.) to degrading passions (homosexuality) and 3.) to a depraved mind (every sin imaginable).
1.) impurity (sinful desires): the first mark of wickedness in a godless society is widespread sexual immorality, which degrades and dishonors our bodies, which were created in God's image. The rise of sexual immorality is a direct result of idolatry------the worship of people, objects and ideas, inevitably leads to the spread and tolerance of sexual immorality. Because it lowers our inhibitions and encourages us to give into our basest desires.------ When sexual perversion is allowed to run rampant in society, and demand acceptance, that is a sign that God's wrath is at work. That He has "given the world over" to its own desires. God allows the full effects of mankind's self-will to be felt and seen. He removes the lid and allows the bubbling pot of evil and sin to boil over. When God removes His restraints from society, people tend to respond in one of two ways. Some people witness the social destruction that sin causes and they come to their senses. They see the error of their ways, and they repent and turn to God for salvation.
But others refuse to learn the lessons of God's wrath. Instead they blame Him for the consequences of their own sin. Instead of turning to God for repentance, they rage and rebel against Him. They plunge even deeper into immorality-----and God gives them over to their own choices and the consequences they have heaped upon themselves.
When people ignore their innate awareness of godly restraints, personal desires become the standard of behavior. Paul didn't hesitate to point out the devastating effects of sin, on the most personal aspects of human life and of how people steeped in sin, daily exchange the truth of God, for satan's lies, and they make themselves filthy in the process.
Just like people exchanged the glory of God for lackluster images, they also traded what can be known about God, for a deliberate distortion of the truth.The greatest lie is that someone or something can be can be worshiped in place of the one true God. People tend to believe lies that reinforce their own selfish personal beliefs.
Today, more than ever, we need to be careful about the input, that we allow to form our beliefs------with TV, music, movies and the rest of the media, often presenting wrong lifestyles and unwholesome values, we constantly find ourselves bombarded by attitudes and beliefs, that are in total opposition to the Bible.Be careful about what you allow to form your opinions. The Bible is the only standard of truth. We have to line up all other opinions with the scripture.
There have always been people who believe that any action that they enjoy, couldn't possibly be wrong. They believe that people wouldn't really desire something, unless it was good for them. They think that the more blatant examples of wickedness are exceptions, rather than the rule. When our wants become our ruler and our desires become our authority, we become slaves to anything and everything that comes down the pike, that makes us feel good or less lonely or less guilty---the further we walk from God the further we walk into sin.
2.) degrading passions (homosexuality):
(before we discuss this, I just want to say that we don't always like what the scripture says and we don't always understand it---but we have to believe it ,and we have to trust it, and we have to receive it, in its entirety---we can't pick out the parts that we like and cling to them and throw out or ignore the parts we don't like--so if we believe what the scripture says about Jesus, the Son of God, then we have to also believe what it says about homosexuality)
When the choice for God is rejected, other desires take control and nothing can stop people from seeking to fulfill their passions------- and perversions of sex, will become rampant. God's plan, for natural sexual relationships, is His ideal for Creation. It's the height of foolishness to think that any sexual behavior, other than how God ordained it, is acceptable, as long as "no one gets hurt."
The scripture frequently urges believers to avoid sexual sin. Not because God realized that he'd made a mistake, but because people pervert it more than any other gift, that God has given us. God invented sex as a pleasurable part of the unique relationship between women and men who are made in His image. And like most gifts, sex can be used properly and it can be used improperly. What was created to be an expression of fidelity, intimacy, comfort and sheer pleasure, can also be the expression of selfishness, betrayal, deception and manipulation. In its rightful place, sex deepens intimacy and builds self-worth. Used wrongfully, it destroys people and relationships, undermining trust and acceptance. Sex is a wonderful gift to be shared by those that God designed it for---a man and a woman, inside the marriage covenant.
Because sex is such a powerful and essential part of what it means to be human, it must be treated with great respect. Sexual desires are of such importance, that the Bible gives them special attention and councils more careful restraint and self-control than with any other desire. As a part of the mystery of God----when a man and woman engage in sexual intimacy, they become one person. On a deeply spiritual level, this is representative of our relationship with God. When we are saved, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our hearts and we become one with Him, and He with us. They are both acts of worship.
One of the clearest indicators, of a society or a person in rebellion against God, is the rejection of God's guidelines for the use of sex.
Paul's treatment of homosexual behavior, is to show the extent to which sin has brought chaos, into every area of life. Homosexuality was as widespread in Paul's day as it is in ours. Most pagan practices encouraged it. In fact, if a high-born Greek or Roman male didn't engage in homosexual behavior they were considered uneducated and uncultured. 14 of the first 15 Emperors of Rome, engaged in homosexual liaisons, even the married ones.
All people are born in sin and individuals have varying tendencies and temptations toward sin.
God is willing, to receive anyone, who will come to Him in faith----- and Christians should love and accept anyone, no matter what their background is, because we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God--we are to love the sinner and hate the sin----- but there is no getting away from the fact, that homosexual behavior, is singled out and strictly forbidden in scripture.
And apparently, just like every other sin, other than blasphemy, that a person can be cleansed of and forgiven for, homosexuality can be too. That makes sense, when you understand that homosexuality is a sin, because scripture teaches us that all sin is level at the cross, there is no one any greater than any other-------except blasphemy, which is denying that the Gospel is true.
Paul wrote this letter from Corinth, a city which was famous for its deviant sexual behavior, kind of like our San Francisco is. And according to 1st Corinthians, some of the Corinthian believers may have been converted out of homosexual lifestyles. Paul says in 6:9-11 "Do you know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves, nor greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." This, in my mind, is an encouragement from scripture, that homosexuality, is a sin, that a person doesn't have to yield to.
Homosexuality is considered an acceptable practice by many, in our world today---even by some churches. But society doesn't set the standards for God's law. Many homosexuals believe that their desires are normal----most believe, that they were born that way and that they have a right to express their desires. But God doesn't obligate, nor does He encourage us to fulfill all of our desires, not even the normal ones. Desires that violate God's laws of nature, must be controlled. All people are born in sin, and individuals have varying tendencies and temptations toward certain sins. But scripture doesn't teach that anyone is born a homosexual, any more than he is born a thief or a murderer. Why would a holy God create a person a certain way and then turn around and condemn him for being created that way--it doesn't make sense---it isn't consistent with God's character. No, a person who becomes a habitual and unrepentant thief or one who chooses a lifestyle of adultery or murder or homosexuality, for whatever reason, is doing it by choice. Temptation is not the sin--even Jesus was tempted------ yielding to it, is what makes us sinners. God offers us freedom from the sins that tempt us, through Jesus Christ and He offers us power to control our desires through the guidance and strength of the Holy Spirit.
If we do yield to temptation, what ever the sin is, not just homosexuality-----there will be a penalty and a punishment that will be in keeping with the offense. The natural result of a person's sin, pays that person back for what they've done. The exact consequences of sin are not predictable, but they are inevitable. (tell about our 8 family rules… they were predictable and still they were pushed to the limit.)
3.) a depraved mind (every sin imaginable)
Having been "given over" by God, to the depravity of their minds, mankind's deeds reveal their utter moral worthlessness and Paul lists 21of them as representatives of all the multitudes of sins that, mankind is guilty of.
These sins mark a society that is approaching collapse. They are so wicked and so hateful that they express total contempt for all other human beings and for God, and they reduce them to being just objects. Depraved minds hate everything they see and destroy everything they touch. Depraved minds are cruel and violent. Depraved minds relish child abuse and spousal abuse and pornography and gang violence and revenge and every other senseless act of hatred and anger.
Depraved minds are fully aware that they're actions are evil and they don't care. They seek to spread their wickedness and to seduce others to think and act in the same way they do. They infect everyone around them with godlessness. Depraved minds invade the fields of education and law and politics; they dominate the news and the entertainment media.
There is nothing that we can see in USA Today or on CNN or Fox News that would be any more relevant than Paul's words.
Logically, you would think that people would be eager to receive the marvelous gift of God's righteousness--------the gift that can heal our hurts, that can correct our errors, that can cover our sins and that can bring us peace and joy and forgiveness to our hearts. Incredibly, people stubbornly choose pain, darkness, death and despair over a relationship with Jesus, both now and eternally. Why, because they love themselves more than they fear our Holy God. And as a result, they've refused to glorify Him and give Him thanks and their hearts have become dark and when they open their mouths, nothing comes out but foolishness.
But even as this moral and spiritual darkness spreads over the world, God will not turn His back on us. He hasn't given us His divine diagnosis and then left us to die in our disease. God has lovingly and graciously provided the cure. He is continually at work in our lives, trying to bring us to our senses and offering us Jesus, as the gift of deliverance and forgiveness.
Ever since Adam and Eve fell in the Garden, there has only been one hope for a world mired in sin and that hope is Jesus. The wrath of God has been completely and fully met by the righteousness of God. God's righteousness cancels out His wrath-----but only in the lives of those who receive His gift of salvation, through faith, in the Lord Jesus.
