Romans 1:24-2:4
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Separation From God
Separation From God
We are going to move rapidly tonight. Often you will here me talk about reading the Word in context. We must make it through the rest of this chapter and move into chapter two for this to make sense tonight.
I pray that tonight's teaching challenges each of our thoughts, our hearts, and our minds, that we continue to develop the heart and the mind of Christ.
I want you to watch how Paul ties idolatry in with immorality. There are many Christians who like to cherry pick through the next few verses. They will take the verses that back their argument while ignoring the verses that apply to them.
As we begin, recall that Paul wrote this letter to the Romans from Corinth. They had a saying in the ancient world. “Live like a Corinth.” When someone said “Live like a Corinth,” they were saying to live a life of degradation, no morality.
24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.
This is one of three times we read about God abandoning people in this chapter. As people choose to live in sin, God turns away. This is not the same as God’s wrath, this is simply God not towing the rope. We can not expect a Holy God to look upon sin or to bless us in sin.
25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
Idolatry. All truth is God’s truth, everything else is a lie. So many believers, even today will unknowingly put other things before God. Idolatry can include: family, loved ones, money, motorcycles, cars, homes, clothes, politics, our own ideologies,and the list goes on. Whatever we put before God becomes an idol it is a sin, and it gets in the way of our relationship with Abba Daddy.
26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.
27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
This is the second time that Paul speaks about God (Theos) abandoning (paradidōmi) people in this chapter.
Theos is the Greek word for God, it is where we get the word “Theology” from meaning: Thoughts of God.
The word for abandoned in the Greek is “paradidōmi.” This word means to let go and to leave. The people separated themselves from God, and He allowed them that separation.
The pagan temple at Corinth had over a thousand priestesses promoting sexual immorality. Many of the men and women involved were prostitutes. Children and adults, some sold into sexual slavery.
These are two verses that I have heard so many people claiming to follow Jesus cherry pick as a way to convince others that God hates gay people.
I have had believers tell me that God created AIDS to kill gay people. This thought process is ignorant, ungodly, and reflects a dark heart. Nowhere in these two verses does it say that God hates anybody. No, it says that He allows us freewill, choose Him or the desires of the flesh.
Does God hate sin? Of course. Does God hate people, does God hate you, does God hate me? No. He proved that at the cross.
Sinfulness Against God
Sinfulness Against God
28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.
There is that word “foolish” (mōrainō) again. There has always been and always will be people that think believing in God is foolish and stupid. Paul is saying that those who refuse to acknowledge God are morons, they are stupid, and God allows those people the freewill to have that moronic and stupid thinking.
Jesus never hated anybody into the Kingdom, nor did He argue anybody into the Kingdom. I want you to find peace in this tonight. There are times you will feel beat up by people when sharing the Truth of God. People will argue, belittle, and lash out. Be like God. Jesus Christ taught us how to handle those situations:
6 “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.
Use discernment. We can debate, but do not fight with those who have a heart hardened against God. Jesus is telling us that it will not be fruitful. If all the person wants to do is trash you and dump on you, recognize that that person is not ready or has decided already. In cases like this, follow the directive of Jesus:
14 If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave.
Thank God that you had the opportunity to share the message. Then dust it off and move on!
Now, on to the verses that some believers chose to ignore. Paul is pointing out the sin in the lives of those who refuse to acknowledge God, but at the same time he is looking at us.
29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.
30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.
31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.
Paul just provided a list of what he saw going on around him that was ungodly. This is by no means an exhaustive list. What he is doing here is pointing out the propensity of the human heart bent towards unholy behavior. Worldly behaviors, not the behaviors a follower of Christ should exhibit.
Wickedness/Sin
Greed, Hate, Envy, Murder, Fighting, Deception, Bitter, Hurtful,Gossip, Backstabbing, Rude, Arrogant,Conceited, Lying, Heartless, Merciless.
We see these behaviors on display in the world today. Sadly, the world has become so far removed from God that people proudly act ungodly. Sin begets sin. The more we sin, the easier it becomes to sin.
The world has changed. Information at the speed of light, bigger weapons, more destructive weapons, so much “I and me” rather than “we and us.” The human heart has not changed. That is what we face brothers and sisters, a heart condition within the world.
I imagine that Paul’s audience felt much like we do at times. Maybe angry, concerned, sad, and saying things like “what is wrong with you!” Well, Paul is about to deliver a message to the believers at Rome, and a message that we need to pay attention to as believers today.
The Sin of Judging
The Sin of Judging
1 You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things.
Before we unpack this verse, we are called to judge one another within the body. The Word of God tells us this. Here are a few verses where judging other believers appears in scripture.
Judging Within the Body
1 Corinthians 5:12-13, John 7:24, Matthew 7:1-5, Romans 16:17-18, 2 Timothy 4:2, Proverbs 31:9, 1 Timothy 5:20
We are not to judge the heart, that is for God alone. We are not to judge with a double standard. We are not going to go into these scriptures, but I challenge you to look them up and study them.
Now, Paul lays into the believer:
1 You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things.
Paul is pointing out the fallacy of the believers in all of the world. So many of us fall into this trap today. The best way to describe this is a person who believes themselves to be a “moralist.”
A “moralist” lives a moral and clean life, but judges others because they do not live as he or she thinks they should.
The word “judge” (krino) in this context means to criticize, to find fault, and to condemn.
Why do we have no excuse? Because we are to recognize what Christ did at the cross. It all comes back to the cross.
Paul is telling those in Rome, the world, and us today:
You are no better than anybody else.
You are no more superior than anybody else.
You are no more righteous than anybody else.
You are no more acceptable to God than anybody else.
If the believers heart and mind go down this condemning path, what we are saying is
Jesus, look at me but ignore them.
Approve me, but condemn them.
Draw near to me, but shun them.
Paul’s message is clear. We can judge other believers fairly, without contempt, with a desire to build up, to edify, and to correct in the Spirit of love.
Jesus faced this with the brothers we know as the “sons of thunder,” James and John.
When Jesus sent travelers ahead to Samaria at one point, and the Samaritan village did not welcome Him. Here is what James and John told Jesus they should do:
54 When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?”
James and John, who had endless struggles of their own, believing they were morally superior, wanted to call down the wrath of God on an entire village. What was Jesus’ response?
55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them.
He probably said “What is wrong with you?” “Have you learned nothing from me?”
Let me give you a modern day example. Perhaps you can relate. Have you ever had someone go speeding around you or driving a bit recklessly and said “boy I hope there is a cop up ahead that gets them!”
Do you ever say “boy, I hope there is a cop that catches me running this stop sign, or red light, or I really want to be caught speeding?”
We can judge in truth, with fact, and by the living Word of God. Paul, through Christ, warns us heavily in acting as a moralist or condemning those who struggles may be different from ours.
As we leave here tonight, let us humble ourselves and show the humility of our LORD and savior Jesus Christ. We have no excuse as believers, as disciples, and as followers of the one true King of Kings. God bless you tonight.