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Why Does God Give People Over to Sin? Romans 1:18-32 |
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Posted By: blessings2you
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness."
Romans 1:18 NKJV
What is this verse telling us? Very simply it is saying that the wrath of God is revealed against certain THINGS done by certain men. It is important to note that the wrath of God is not revealed against the men, but against what they were doing. What these men were doing was "all ungodliness and all unrighteousness". That which they were doing suppresses the truth in unrighteousness.
I believe God gave the apostle Paul a preview of life in 2008. Romans 1:18 certainly describes the state of affairs in this country and around the world. People have gotten so brazen in their ungodliness and unrighteousness that they manage to suppress the truth.
In the following verses in Romans chapter one, Paul describes the reasons for why the Gentiles are as guilty of sin as the Jews. One of the profound things Paul states is found in verses 21 and 22:
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness."
Professing to be wise, they became fools."
These people did know God just as countless millions in the world today know God. People meet someone and shake their hand and then for years brag to everyone that they "know" so and so. It is the same way with God. Many know God but few know anything about Him and fewer yet know Him well enough to "glorify Him as God".
God doesn't just want people to know He exists. This means absolutely nothing to God. When a person claims to know God but refused to glorify Him as GOD; they are professing to be wise but become fools. Those who do not glorify God as GOD are unthankful for all God has given them and their thoughts become futile. There is nothing profitable in what they are thinking from God's point of view. Their foolish hearts become darkened.
Many stand on stages and at pulpits to announce to the world how wise they are. "Look at me and all my degrees and awards" is what they either say or project. Yet, if they do not glorify God as GOD and retain Him in their thoughts; they become fools. Verse 23 tells us that these people change the glory of the incorruptible God into images of corruptible things like birds and animals. They make idols they can see and place upon those idols their version of the glory of god.
To say that God doesn't like this is the understatement of all time. God has made it very clear through the centuries that HE is GOD and He will not put up with people worshipping that which He created as God. Yet, that is precisely what people have done for thousands of years and still do today. They worship the creation more than the Creator who is blessed forever.
There are consequences to flagrant, blatant and "in your face" sin toward God. When man tells God "I have no need of you" and proceeds to change the glory of God into idols made with his own hands, there are sure to be severe consequences, and there are as recorded in the rest of the chapter.
The direct result of man's utter rejection of the sovereignty of God is verse 24:
"Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,"
This idea of God "giving them up to ..." could be very troubling. But, it is not that God gave up on them. No, He simply "gave them up to follow the lusts of their heart by dishonoring their bodies among themselves." When man rejects God and refuses to glorify God as GOD, he makes those things he can see, hear, taste and touch worthy of his glory.
Let us be perfectly frank here. Verse 24 is referring to homosexuality and nothing else. Later on, verse 26 speaks of homosexuality among women. Verse 27 again goes back to homosexuality among men. This whole section dealing with the rejection of God leads to the subject of homosexuality, for it is what God gave these people up to do, because it is what their hearts lusted after. In Lot's time, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah did and were exactly what these verses speak of.
How does man get to this decrepit state? Verse 25 tells us:
"Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen"
Any time the truth of God is exchanged for the lie there is going to major problems. But, when it goes to the next level of worshipping the created thing more than the Creator-that is when God has no choice but to, as it says at the start of verse 26; "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions." Once again, just as in verse 24, God is forced to give people up to that which is vile and wicked because it is what the people lust after.
No verse better summarizes this section and serves as the stepping stone for showing all the horrible acts of unrighteousness, as verse 28:
"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting."
When people look God squarely in the face and tell Him they are going to go do what they want, when they want to and with whom they want; they are in so many words telling Almighty God where to go. This "in your face" attitude toward God is the reflection of a total absence of any respect or love for God as their Creator. This type of blatant disrespect is nothing more than the equivalent of spitting in God's face, turning your back on Him and walking away to go fulfill every evil lust and passion the flesh can come up with.
God has to respect the freedom of will he gave to man and thus all He can do is to give these people who simply do not like to retain God in their knowledge over to a debased mind which will quickly be filled with every form of evil. What flows from a debased mind? Verses 29 through 31 list over twenty things that emanate from a debased or deprived mind.
Finally we get to verse 32 which more or less summarizes the whole situation:
"Who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things (the 23 things just listed) are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them."
Remember this whole section dealt with those who KNEW God, but would not glorify Him as GOD. These people know what the righteous judgment of God is regarding those who practice these things, and that is they are deserving of death. But, they not only do these very things, they give their approval to those who actually PRACTICE these things.
Time does not allow me to continue, but needless to say one of the key words here is the word "practice". There is a huge difference between "doing" something and making it a "practice". In a nutshell, what is being taught in this section is that God will not step in and make a person do His will. If a person honestly wants to tell God to "shove it"; God has no choice but to turn the person over to that which he/she wants to practice so badly in their life.
What is so very sad is that this section started with the statement that the wrath of God is revealed against all the very things mentioned in the following verses. So, if a person insists on practicing them or approving those who do, they are going to have to deal with the wrath of God when it is revealed against all these things. Not a pleasant thing to look forward to.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-By 2.5 License
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Posted: 07/24/08 12:30am - Total Views: 386 - Category: Bible Studies
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happytoberestored |
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Posted by:
happytoberestored
(Posted: 07/24/08 3:53am)
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b2y,
What a great exposition on just what being "handed over" means in light of the practices of sin by those who "know" better.
Thank you for investing your time in this and presenting it to us all.
WOOHOO!
YSIC,
Virginia
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tchable |
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Posted by:
tchable 
(Posted: 07/24/08 3:57am)
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Amen brother . . . I thank God there remains a few who preach and teach God from their hearts rather than exclusively from their heads. It is required that we know scripture however I would rather have 5 words of faith in my heart than five thousand in my head. We have a multitude of good heads in our pulpits today but only a few lovers of His Word.
You are entirely correct in saying the wrath of God is not being poured out on man. God is at peace with man in this present age. However, the day will come when He will pour out His wrath on all who practice unrighteousness. The unrighteous glory in their freedom today but we all have a day of reckoning
I pray all eyes and hearts will be opened to the truth and Love of God before that day arrives.
Blessings from NC
TchAble
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Nickname: blessings2you
Gender: Male
Age: 55
Blog Entries: 401
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Member Biography |
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In 1969 I was miraculously saved by an act of God's super abounding grace and mercy when I was 16 years old at a church youth group work trip in New Mexico. I was changed from a very troubled introverted teenager on the brink of many major mental and emotional...
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