Post by LDM on Aug 11, 2009 9:33:17 GMT -5
16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21. Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23. And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30. Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31. Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32. Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
It is funny how people say this verse, but I think there are so many ways to "be ashamed" of the Gospel. There have been times in my Christian walk where I have not confronted wrong doing or wrong impressions about God simply because I didn't want to receive the wrath/rejection that I knew would be coming if I spoke up. That is an example of being ashamed. I have held my tongue because I didn't want to be labeled as a "fanatic" or because I didn't want to create divisions between me and others. That is being ashamed. Whenever we shirk back from being identified with Jesus (like Peter when he denied Him), we are showing that we are ashamed. I pray that God give us boldness to represent Him at all times, but also understand that this can only happen as we deny ourselves. We must make preparations now in order to face the tumultuous times which are coming upon the earth. If we wait and are unprepared, then we will choose instinctively to save ourselves instead of standing for Jesus, showing shame for the Gospel message.
17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
The Gospel contains the righteousness of God and is revealed to us by faith. "Faith to faith" to me seems to indicate a progressive movement, and ever-increasing faith. Our faith in Him grows as we learn more about His righteousness as revealed in His word.
18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Not many people like to talk about the "wrath" of God. They like to picture God as one dimensional. "Oh, God is love", they say. But God is real, He is alive, and He has a personality with likes and dislikes. God gets angry. Scriptures say He is angry with the wicked all day every day.
19. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
This even tells us why God is angry: because the truth of God's existence is revealed or made plain in us. We are made in God's image. Our very existence shows that we were designed in a special way, not just the results of some random evolutionary process. Everything God did in creating man was done with thought and care. Most importantly, it was done in love. No one labors over that which they care nothing about. We were not just slapped together with little thought. He purposefully chose every connection of sinew, muscle, bone, and flesh...for our good and for His glory. We were wonderfully and fearfully made.
20. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Even the broader creation itself declares the "invisible" things of God. God has put His signature on everything He created. We can look at creation and get a sense of the power of God and the members of the Godhead.
God says that man is without excuse. He will not hear "But I didn't know", when we come before Him. He has taken great care to ensure that man can know who He is. Not one person will have one excuse of ignorance.
Sometimes people like to ask bizarre questions when contesting Jesus Christ. What about the Aborigine who has never heard of Jesus? What about the tribal peoples in Africa? First, the people asking you these questions care nothing about such persons. They are just trying to debunk faith in the True and Living God.
The bottom line is - however God judges that to be and however He accomplishes it - He says without equivocation that man is without excuse. We can take comfort in God's word to know that He gives everyone the opportunity to know Him.
21. Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
The issue is not that man doesn't know who God is. The issue is that after knowing who He is, man decides not to glorify Him. Man is not thankful for the loving care for which He has created, provided for, and saved mankind. Instead, people get lost in the darkness of their own thoughts and imaginations about God. Everyone who denies God must by default worship their own mind.
It is rather silly for that which is created to all of a sudden begin to think that he/she can dictate to the Creator. Yet, that is what happens. Knowing we cannot count one hair on our heads or make the sun to rise or fall, we determine that we will define the universe and what is true based on what we imagine to be real. Imaginations are powerful and can be very deceiving. It can literally create a world in your own mind, based on your own logic, and you will walk in this like it is real. It is a tool for fantasy.
22. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Now, walking in this imaginary world made-up in your mind, you feel wise. You feel like you have ascended above others because others are unable to see or understand like you. This is what happens in most colleges. They teach young adults - not to think for themselves - but to think like the world. You pay thousands of dollars and commit untold hours being programmed to adapt an imaginary presentation of the world. I am not speaking against college, but talking about being aware of how college is used. If one does not have an anchor in the Lord, one graduates a wise fool, believing in and becoming trapped by the fantasy arenas of this world.
23. And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
With that mindset, man begins to worship and make gods out of created things. Everything can be divine, can be a god. This is the essence of the new age religion that is being pushed as part of the new world order.
Remember too that God is addressing in this text ALL who are unGodly and unrighteous (verse 18).
24. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
"Wherefore". That means as a direct result of the fact that man is denying knowledge of who God is and turning to worship created things, God gives them up to uncleanness. That is a strong statement. It gives the image of God washing His hands and removing Himself from man. Sometimes, the worse thing you can be given is what you want because we don't always know what is best for us.
God doesn't give them up to "the devil." He gives man over to his own lusts. It is our own desires that can be our downfall. Nobody has to do anything to us. Our own lusts will ensnare us. God simply let's man have his way and man destroys himself. With the restraint of God removed, man begins the process of decaying.
Notice too that through all of this - man's denial of God, his ingratitude, his idolatry, etc. - God was still there acting as a restraint against man's sin nature. Even while man is spitting in His face, God was still intervening so we didn't kill our crazy selves. The grace of God is without words. His love is incomparable. Who else would continue to fight for us even while we are set on destroying ourselves.
25. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
We know the truth about God from our own existence and creation itself. But man purposefully turns that truth into a lie. All of this is purposeful.
When I first came to know the Lord, I once told a Christian friend, "If Jesus would just reveal Himself, show Himself in the sky...if people could just see Him, then everyone would know that He was real and believe." My friend answered, "He did show Himself. He was here for 30+ years and men still didn't believe."
That helped me to understand that faith in Jesus Christ is not about "proof". The Bible says that creation itself attests to His presence and glory, so man is without excuse. The Scriptures are clear about why men do not believe:
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." John 3:19
God imparts to every person the inner witness to know that He is real. However, many prefer the ways of darkness. Don't let people con you into thinking that if you provided "proof" that God is real, they would believe. That is a lie. People don't believe because they don't want to.
26. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
"For what cause"? Because man turns God's truth into a lie and starts worshiping corruptible, created things instead of God. We have talked about this "natural use" term in the video on Baal Peor. thelatterdays.blogspot.com/2009/03/worship-of-baal-peor.html Essentially, this phrase is a reference to a woman's private parts. Notice that there is a "natural use" for this part of the body and an unnatural use. Oral sex is not "natural" whether between the opposite sex or the same sex. It is an unnatural use of that part of the body.
27. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
The word "likewise" lets us know that the same actions outlined in the previous verse are continuing here. Like the women, the men start also burning in lust towards one another. Again, this is unnatural.
28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Have you ever noticed that the deeper you get in sin the less you want to hear about God? You cannot have your mind set like a flint to go into depravity and at the same time have a "love" for God in your heart. Similarly, those in this condition cannot even stand to have God come across their minds. Oh, they will talk about a false god all day. But there is vehement anger and fierceness when God Himself is represented. They try to eradict God's presence from every arena. This is being done today with God's word being called "hate speech" and those who preach it being labeled as intolerant terrorists.
Here, God gives them over to a reprobate mind. God may have let sin have its way in man before, but even that was an act to draw man closer to Him. He let man go further in sin as a means of allowing the lack of His restraint to serve as a call back to Him. Yet, being given over to a reprobate mind makes one irretrievable.
29. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30. Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31. Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Now being given over to a reprobate mind, man in this condition is now filled with all unrighteousness.
32. Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
This is a key statement. This not only covers those who do these acts, but those who support them. So when you see people standing up to support and promote that which is unrighteous, they are just as guilty before God as those who actually perform the act. They are all coming from the same nature: one who has purposefully denied the truths of God and tried to replace all knowledge of the True God with a vain imagination worshiping idols.