Romans 1:26-32 "The Consequences of Defiance pt.2"

Introduction:

What is God to do if those who were created to worship and glorify Him exchange the glory of the immortal God for images resembling created beings?

Remember it is not like God hasn’t made Himself known. He has, and He has revealed Himself through His divine power being on display in what has been made.

Remember that fallen man will suppress the truth about God and make up lies and assert those lies in the place of God’s revealed truth. In the end they collapse in to idolatry and worship the creature instead of the Creator.

So again, What is God to do if those who were created to worship and glorify Him exchange the glory of the immortal God for images resembling created beings?

Our text deals with this question and the answer helps us to understand our current cultural situation and how we can address it using a biblical worldview in our evangelistic efforts. First we see that God gives people up to Dishonorable Passions in verses 26-27:

I. Given Up to Dishonorable Passions (26-27).

He does this because people exchange the truth about God for a lie. Human beings do this when they reject the truth that God reveals about and substitute their own ideas regarding God’s identity.

Notice the text tells us that God gave them up to dishonorable passions meaning the society or people group but their women exchanged natural relations for those contrary to nature.

Now we know this is referring to homosexuality. Natural relations are those relations that are in keeping with God and His designed order.

But this is the whole thing. They reject God and His sovereign authority reflected in His desire for His creation. Instead they assert their own sense of autonomy, their sense of self rule in defiance of God.

For men it is the same, God gave them up to dishonorable passions but men gave up natural relations. Men also do the same thing. They give up their natural relations with women and burn with passion for one another.

These are shameless acts because they deviate from God’s designed order. Two women are not able to conceive a child, they can’t procreate and form the building blocks for a family in a natural and biological manner.

Neither can two men. God created marriage and male and female to be in that marriage and to be able to naturally and biologically make babies.

Such unnatural acts are in one sense judgement and in another sense they also bring the judgement on those who commit such actions. It is the picture of judgement being compounded upon the defiant.

This giving over by God to dishonorable passions is dealing with sinful acts of a sinful nature. Ever wonder what we would do if we all acted out on every sexual temptation that we were ever tempted with?

Understand Christian that it was God who kept us from doing such things. He kept His hand on us as to protect us from falling into such sin. But there are times when God has removed His hand. Like in the life of King David and his sexual sin with Bathsheba.

In such times God reveals our weakness and humbles us in our sense of need for Him and His grace.

“Given over” is the idea that people are being handed over to their own desires and sexual impulses and they are determining their own identities from something that is rooted in their sin nature.

But because they don’t take their cues from the God of Creation and the Bible their basis is self-determined. This is where false gods come from.

They derive their identity and purpose and meaning in life from this self-determinism. We go after their sexual sin but really that is a characteristic of a self-determined worldview that is more at home in secularism than in historic Christianity.

Now Christian don’t think it is only the homosexual that is defiant against God. That is just one hallmark of a defiant people group or society. Look at verse 28-32 as we see that God also gives the defiant up to a Debased Mind:

II. Given Up to a Debased Mind (28-32).

They refused to see the world through the eyes of the Creator and His divine order so God gave them over to a “debased mind”.

This is a mind void of qualifications. Meaning there is no logic that is consistent with God’s design and order. If you are not seeing the world through the eyes of God as revealed in His creation and His revealed word then whose eyes are you seeing the world through?

By default you are seeing it through your own eyes. Fallen man, who is uninformed about so many things in the Universe and about matters of the Christian faith and practice.

According to the Cultural Research Center on the campus of Arizona Christian University; only 6% of Americans have a Biblical worldview (pg. 1 of the 2020 Report).

Not much better in the Church, 33% of the population claim to be “born again.” The study takes that 33% and they find that only 19% of those who claim to be “born again” have a biblical worldview (pg. 2 of the 2020 Report).

When you break it down by the generations: 9% of both Elder generation (75+) and Boomers (56-74); down to 5% of Generation X (37-55); and down to 2% for Millennials (18-35); and Generation Z even less.

What does this tell us? It tells us that the secular culture is making disciples far better than the Church is. And they are doing it even to people who claim to be “born again.”

Christian if we don’t know how to confront the secular position of a godless society how are we going to do evangelism and apologetics in the world?

If we are not being discipled then how are we going to disciple others? How is the Church going to disciple the next generation?

Christian it appears to me that this text tells us something about Roman culture in Paul’s day but it tells us something of our own culture in our day. You see it is not just the homosexuality of verse 26-27 but it is the act of the debased mind of 28-32.

Notice closely verse 32 Christian.

They know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die (32a).

Understand that the know and the reason they know is because of God’s natural law and the written law. They know they are defying His order.

And they not only do them “but”; this is an emphatic contrast in the Greek language, “but they give approval to those who practice them.” If that is not our culture I don’t know what is.

I run into professing Christians that love to express their tolerance and approval to things that God calls evil.

Where does such an idea come from? Does it come from the Bible or the secular world?

Well pastor, it comes from the secular world. Then why would a Bible believing Christian be offended when their pastor preaches what the Bible says about sexual sin?

It must be that when it comes to sexual sin and sexual identity the professing Christian embraces the secular idea instead of the one that God has. How does the secular worldview get into the Church?

It gets in when what the world thinks of us matters more than what God thinks. And only 6% have a biblical worldview so that 6% are the only ones that can really know what it is that God thinks.

How do we reach people who are currently given over by God to their own impulses and desires? This is critical right? Because you may have a close friend of family member that you care deeply for. So here are some

Plead with God on their behalf to open their eyes. Don’t stop being dependent on God as the one who is full of grace and mercy to, not only you but them as well.

Get prepared to be used by God. One of the most intimidating things in the world is to get in to a spiritual discussion with an unbeliever and have nothing to say to them about God or His word.

Read the Bible. Learn the content of the Book of Romans. Read the Gospels. Jesus was the Master at engaging people in conversation. He knew how to speak to them and cover all the bases in ways that prodded people to think. The Apostles give us great examples too. Read it till you get it. You can’t do better than the Bible.

Read books by apologist. Get you a copy of Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. Read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and anything by Francis Schaeffer or the Apologetic works by Tim Keller like, Reason for God or Counterfeit Gods.

Love them well. Fight for their salvation by loving them well. That means we love them to the point that we refuse to lie to them. Don’t say you love them but refuse to tell them the truth about who God is and who they are and their need for the gospel. (Chris Story)

And remember that if you were left to yourself and God had not intervened, you would had been no different than they are. You are just a beggar telling another beggar where to find the bread.

Conclusion:

Any beggars here today needing the bread?

Unbeliever Christ came into the world to take the place of sinners. Yes He can wash away anything from verse 18 to verse 32 and beyond. Put your faith in Christ today and believe in Him

Christian confess and receive. Let’s Pray!