Introduction
In the last Bible study from Romans 1:18-23, Paul relayed to
the pagans/Gentiles they could not say they did not know God. God reveals Himself in
creation and in His active creative presence in the world. Paul said God’s
wrath reveals itself against ungodliness and unrighteousness in people for
suppressing truth. This truth he spoke of is of God Himself. He explained in
verse nineteen, God made Himself evident within them. The Gentiles/pagans knew
God in their hearts, but denied His existence even though He made His
attributes of eternal power and divinity clearly known. Paul said these people
had no excuse for denying God. God is evident in the world. Paul continued in
these verses saying these people did not honor God or give Him thanks. They had
foolish hearts because of their internal debate; they thought themselves wiser
than God. These Gentiles (pagans) chose to follow their own desires and
reasoned God out of their minds and hearts. Paul said they chose to follow
unrighteous ways by exchanging the glory of God for manmade images of man,
birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures-created things-instead of
the Source of these things, the Creator-God, perishable things rather than eternal God. This
showed their ultimate foolishness because they worshiped created things instead
of the Creator-mortal things instead of immortal God. God gives each person
freewill to choose to be in a right relationship with Him or to turn away from
Him and follow the reasonings and whims of their own minds and hearts. By exchanging
the glory of God for images, Gentiles (pagans) were guilty of worshiping other
gods.
With this Bible study, we will consider what comes from
foolish and futile reasoning. Paul said God allowed Gentiles (pagans) to follow
their own hearts and decisions and reap the results of them. They walked in guilt
from creating idols in verse twenty-three. In verses twenty-four through
thirty-two, Paul listed the unrighteous actions, thoughts, and words that come
from unrighteous decisions. He then used them to juxtapose with the
righteous decision of living in a relationship with God-honoring, glorifying,
and giving thanks to Him. The ungodliness and unrighteousness Paul spoke of affects
a person’s body, mind, and spirit. It brings guilt of sins done by one’s body,
mind, and spirit.
Verses eighteen through twenty-two explain the foolishness
and ignorance of Gentiles (pagans) for turning away from God, who is evident in
the world. Verses twenty-three through thirty-two expound on the sins that come
from turning away from God and deciding to live without Him. As Paul explained,
the pagans/Gentiles had no excuse for ignorance. God makes Himself evident. In the
following verses, Paul explained they had no excuse for the guilt of idolatry (heart),
sexual sins (body), or sins that come from the mind that adversely affect
themselves or other people. Let’s now consider verses twenty-four through
thirty-two with the rest of this Bible study.
Guilt of the Heart
Verses eighteen through twenty-three speak about the
foolishness and ignorance of pagans/Gentiles for choosing to turn away from God who
made Himself clearly evident to all people through creation and His continuing active creative
presence. Verses twenty-four and twenty-five give greater meaning to verse
twenty-three. Verse twenty-three alluded to idol worship. Paul said in
twenty-three, “[they] exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image
in the form of corruptible man and of birds, and of four-footed animals and
crawling creatures.” (NASB) Making statues or art of things in creation is not
wrong. What you do with those statues and art could be wrong.
In verses twenty-four and twenty-five, Paul said,
Therefore, God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (NASB)
First, we must note, the word “therefore” expresses an
action or thought now because of something earlier. “Therefore” looks backward to
look forward properly. Because they loved images of creatures, they worshiped
them. “Therefore” since they made idols, God gave them over to run their own
lives instead of following Him. He allowed them to follow their own hearts. “Therefore,”
they dishonored God and their own bodies. The word “therefore” carries much
weight. The two-word verb “gave over” comes from the Greek word paradidomi and means to deliver over,
hand over, or abandon. The word “lusts” comes from epithumia and means to focus
on a passionate desire. It expresses a passion built on strong feelings or
urges. Paul said, God abandoned the Gentiles (pagans, and all people, really)
to the passions of their hearts and the result of those passions. The result of
passions not based on God is impurity. Impurity means unclean in the Greek
language. This uncleanness comes from being sinful, which keeps a person from
being right before God. Impurity dishonored and defiled the pagans/Gentiles’ bodies.
The pagans'/Gentiles’ worshiping idols defiled their bodies and showed they dishonored
themselves. Paul spoke of this in Romans
1:26 & 28, too. The pagans/Gentiles dishonored themselves by focusing on the
statues with lust. They chose to care more about the statues than about God.
This brought shame upon them. The impurity of
the pagans/Gentiles came from rebelling against God and lusting, desiring with
passion. It came from not following Him, but following something else. Paul
spoke about lust of the flesh in Ephesians 2:3, too. He said in Ephesians in
times past believers had walked in the lust of the flesh by fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and mind. Believers were children of God’s wrath before
they accepted Jesus as their Savior. Each person deserves the penalty for
sinning against God. Jesus paid the penalty so we can be in a right relationship
with God since He will not be where sin is.
In verse twenty-five, with the word “for” Paul told the pagans/Gentiles their sin when they turned away from honoring, thanking, and
glorifying God. He told them they “exchanged the truth of God for a lie and
worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” Paul told the pagans/Gentiles their blatant denial of God led them to dishonor themselves in God’s
eyes. He said, they chose to lust after other gods, things they desired other
than God, by making gods out of statues in the shapes of creatures. Instead of
acknowledging the truth of God as evidenced in creation, they chose to believe
an untruth. With this belief, the pagans/Gentiles worshiped and served the physical images
of the untruth they believed. Jeremiah 10:14 speaks about handmade images. He
said, “Every man is brutish in his knowledge; every founder is confounded by
the graven image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in
them.” (NASB) Images/idols people make have no breath and are perishable.
Only God who created the resources and the model for the image is immortal,
divine, and powerful. Paul said this with the end of verse twenty-five when he
said only the Creator is blessed forever. He meant only God is truly worthy of
praise and will exist for eternity. God is everlasting and worthy of praise,
honor, and glory.
God allowed the Gentiles (pagans) to become what they began.
They wanted to worship things instead of Him. God allowed them to have freewill.
Paul said these people considered themselves wise and followed their own ways.
The pagans/Gentiles, he said, did more than make statues. In following their foolish
ways, they worshiped the image of the creature, not the Creator. The pagans/Gentiles
became impure and dishonored themselves. They exchanged the truth for a lie and
worshiped it.
·
Is there
something or someone you think about and give more consideration to than holy
God?
·
Do you recognize
Him in creation and His continuing creative process?
·
Do you
hear and feel His conviction in your heart?
·
What do
you do when you recognize God and feel convicted? Do you turn your back on Him
refusing to give Him credence? Or, do you turn toward Him, asking forgiveness, and
doing what He says?
Guilt of the Body
With verses twenty-six and twenty-seven, Paul explained how
the pagans'/Gentiles’ decisions to worship manmade idols and follow their own desires
affected their bodies and lives. In verses twenty-four and twenty-five, he said
their lusts made them impure and dishonored (defiled) them. The pagans/Gentiles worshiped
things other than God and by doing so made themselves as high or higher than
God in their lives, in their minds and hearts. When a person chooses to do what
he/she wants in the face of doing what is right according to God that person
makes him or herself his or her own god. Paul said in these verses, by choosing
to follow their own ways, making their own decisions and being their own god,
this rebellion caused impurity. With verses twenty-four and twenty-five, the
impurity of the heart came from worshiping creature rather than Creator. This
impurity in worship can lead to impurity in the body and mind of a person.
In verses twenty-six and twenty-seven, the impurity from
worshiping self-that person’s decisions-affects the body. Paul said in these
verses,
For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. (NASB)
The phrase “for this reason” refers back to what went before
like the word “therefore.” “For this reason,” which Paul said was the pagans'/Gentiles’ worshiping self
over God, God allowed them to experience the consequences of making themselves
their own gods. He allowed them freedom of choice and to experience the results
of those choices. Basically, God took His hands off (“gave them over”) the pagans/Gentiles and let the natural result occur. He delivered them to their own control.
The natural result was the pagans/Gentiles dishonored and defiled themselves. God gave
them control of their own decisions and gave them over to their degrading
passions. The passions of the pagans/Gentiles were uncontrolled; they did whatever
came to their minds. Their passions (“lusts” of verse twenty-four) controlled
them. Even the pagans/Gentiles could not control themselves when they allowed their
lusts-desires or great passions-to lead them.
Paul explained the results to the body of allowing the lusts
of the mind and heart. He explained these degrading passions for men and women
that caused impurity. Paul said their women exchanged the natural function for
the unnatural, what is against nature. That may seem vague until you understand
the words in this verse and read verse twenty-seven which Paul hinged with
verse twenty-six. The word “exchanged” comes from the Greek word metallasso and means to change or
transform. The word “function” comes from the Greek word chresis, a feminine noun used to speak of the sexual use or
intercourse of a woman. This means the woman who made herself her own god and
chose not to follow God transformed the natural function of sexual intercourse
for herself to an unnatural one, one contrary to nature the way God made it. What
is the natural function? Let’s consider what Paul said in verse twenty-seven.
Paul said in verse twenty-seven, “and in the same way also
the men abandoned the natural function of women and burned in their desire
toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts.” (NASB) In this
verse, Paul stated the women in verse twenty-six were inflamed (burned in their
lust) for women and had sexual intercourse with other women instead of with
men. He said men did the same with other men. Paul said these desires are
unnatural; they were indecent. The word “unnatural” Paul used comes from the
Greek word that means contrary to the order of nature. Women transformed or
altered the natural function of sexual intercourse. Men abandoned (aphiemi)-sent away or released-the
natural function of sexual intercourse with women. They removed it from their
minds and chose to follow their own desires. Instead of doing that for which God
created male and female bodies, to join man and woman, the Gentile men and
women abandoned it and burned in desire (orexis-inflamed
with a strong lust and longing) for a person of the same sex. Paul applied this
to the women of verse twenty-six and the men of verse twenty-seven.
Not only do these acts cast aside the natural ways God
created men and women to fit together for procreation and pleasure, it goes
against God’s laws. They are “indecent deeds” according to Paul. These “indecent
acts” (aschemosune) mean they are shameless and improper behavior that
fails to fulfill the needed purpose. In Leviticus 18:22, God told the
Israelites through Moses, “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female;
it is an abomination.” (NASB) Later in Leviticus 20:13a, God said, “If there is
a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have
committed a detestable act.” (NASB). In 1 Corinthians 6:9, Paul continued this
thought when he wrote to the people of Corinth. He said, “Do you not know that the
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither
shall the fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
homosexuals.” (NASB) The words “abomination” and “detestable” come from the
same Hebrew word meaning disgusting, wicked, unclean, and unrighteous.
“Unrighteous” comes from the word adikos and
means sinful, not right with God. Fornicator, adulterer, effeminate, and
homosexual deal with unlawful sexual intercourse, male with male, male with a
woman who is another man’s wife, female with female. These sexual relations
occurred contrary to God’s laws and the way He made all things, natural laws.
They occur because people decide to be their own gods and allow their passions
to lead them into unnatural actions, actions against nature. Unnatural sexual
relations was a consequence of pagans/Gentiles following the lusts of their own hearts
when misusing the freewill God gave them.
For these indecent deeds, sin affects their bodies, Paul
continued in verse twenty-seven. He said they “received back in their own
persons the due penalty of their error.” Basically, Paul said they got what
they deserved, the reward for their actions of going against the nature of things
and God’s laws. The error of the pagans/Gentiles is wandering and roaming into sin. The
people followed their lusts and did what they wanted to do. They had sexual
intercourse in unnatural ways and against God’s laws, the God Who is evident in
creation and His continuing creative process. Pagans/Gentiles understood God is real. They
understood the natural created purpose for their bodies, but they allowed their
desires and strong passions to take control and be their gods. They exchanged
the natural for the unnatural. The consequence of any sin against God and His
created natural process is the matching reward. For sin, the matching reward is
judgment/punishment. For good deeds, the reward is blessing. For each person,
the reward for sexual sin is separation from God just like all sins. God’s love
and righteousness demands unrighteousness, such as sexual sin, receive
punishment to alter the course of the person’s life and cause him or her to
turn and look toward God. He does this because He wants to bring the person
into a right relationship with Him. Sometimes the reward for sexual sins is
disease or death. Other times it can be turmoil within one’s mind and heart.
God decides each sinner’s judgment based on his or her sin and depth of
rebellion against Him and His laws.
God’s plan allows each person to have freewill. Depending on
whether a person uses that freewill to follow God or become overcome with his
or her passions and desires, determines the reward the person receives from
Him. For those who want to worship idols and make themselves their own god, God
gives them over to the lusts of their hearts. Those lusts make the pagans and all people impure. They end up dishonoring their bodies and becoming impure when they alter
the natural sexual function of their bodies for the unnatural, when they choose
sexual relations with someone of the same sex instead of the way God created
them-men with women. Because of these sins in the body that came from making
their own decisions and being their own gods, their bodies receive the penalty
for these indecent acts/sins. When a person sins against the natural order of
things as God created them, sin enters the mix and changes things making it
“not good” as compared to God calling it “good” when He created it. This sin
causes disease, guilt, confusion, and despair, the natural just result/reward
for/from the sin. Sin results from turning the natural into unnatural. When
something changes the natural way God made things, it becomes unnatural; it
makes “good” into “not good.” Sin in the body causes unnatural things to occur
in the body. Sin causes unpleasant rewards in the body when people use their
bodies in unnatural ways.
·
Have you
chosen to be your own god and make your own decisions despite what God told
you?
·
Have you
received God’s judgment yet on those decisions? What happened?
·
Were the
results of choosing to go your own way and not God’s way positive?
·
Have you
ever felt the pull of lust in your body? Did you give in to it?
·
If you did
not give in to lust, how did you overcome it and why?
·
God gives
each believer strength to overcome temptation. We must call on Him.
Consider what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:13-No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. [1 Corinthians 10:13 (NASB)]
Guilt of the Mind
Paul tied this to verse twenty-three where he said they
“exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible
man.” Remember, this means they made themselves and their desires their gods
instead of God almighty. In the first two sections, Paul said “God gave them
over in the lusts of their hearts” (vs. 24) and “God gave them over to
degrading passions” (vs. 26). Because the pagans/Gentiles made themselves and their
desires their gods, Paul added, “God gave them over to a depraved mind” (vs.
28). Becoming one’s own god affects
one’s heart, body, and mind. Consider Romans 1:28-32,
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. (NASB)
This list is lengthy. At first glance, we recognize some of these
sins are against God alone and others are against people primarily and secondarily
against God and His laws. Paul began by saying they, the Gentiles (pagans), did
not see fit. This two-word verb-see fit-comes from the Greek word dokimazo and means to examine and approve. “Acknowledge” comes from
the Greek word epignosis, which means
to possess or have the precise correct knowledge of ethical and divine things.
The pagans/Gentiles did not approve and possess the correct knowledge of God. They did
not live by and act on things in the way God said was right. These pagans
debated within themselves and chose to follow their own ways. With each action
or decision we make, God acts or decides something. Here, because the pagans/Gentiles
did not acknowledge God any longer, but followed their own desires, God gave
them over (paradidomi), He delivered
or committed them, to a depraved mind. This statement is like verse twenty-four
where God gave them over to their lusts. Before, the people wanted to follow
their passions and God gave them over to their lusts. Here they refused to
acknowledge (a mental action) God and He gave them over to depraved minds. Paul
meant the pagans/Gentiles considered God and decided He was unnecessary in their
lives. The word “depraved” comes from the Greek word adokios and means failing the test, unapproved, and counterfeit. The
words Paul used here contrast “see fit” with “unfit” or “depraved.” The latter
means the mind is no longer properly functioning and perceiving God. The person
estranges him or herself from God and his or her ideas or speculations have
displaced the perception of God.
God allowed the pagans/Gentiles to follow their own
thoughts and receive the results of them-ideas, words, and actions that fail
God’s standards. The pagans'/Gentiles’ thoughts would lead them to do improper things. Their
sins against society are also sins against God. For Paul, the mind has a crucial
part to play in conduct. Jesus said this same thing. Matthew and Mark recorded
what He said in Matthew 15:11 and Mark 7:15. Matthew 15:11 records Jesus as
having said, “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but
what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” (NASB) What the heart
intends and what the mind plans is what a person says or does. To choose to do
any of the vices/sins listed in the next verses requires choosing not to do
what God considers right.
Paul gave an extensive list of these thoughts that result in
improper actions. Notice the actions are against God and people. These coincide
with the ten commandments. These vices break into three lists-crimes against
society/community, crimes against individuals, and the final list of six
dispositions of pride and six vices related to the destruction of human
affection and sentiment. Let’s consider these thoughts and actions now by
looking at their definitions.
1.
Filled with all unrighteousness – This is the opposite
of justice and is a violation of God’s standards. It encompasses all sins and
brings God’s divine disapproval and judgment. It leads us to consider Paul’s
use of unrighteous in verse eighteen and that all unrighteousness brings God’s
wrath. Each of the vices listed below this shows man as forgetting or turning away
from the recognition that God is Creator and he or she is creature, not God.
2.
Wickedness – This word comes from the Greek word
poneria, which means pain-ridden evil
or pain that results from wickedness/evil. This is evil that inflicts or
results in pain for another person.
3.
Greed – This word comes from the Greek word pleonexia and means the desire for more
things or lusting after a great number of temporal things beyond what God considers
is eternally best. It means not being content with what God gives you, but choosing
to be discontent and wanting more, even to the detriment of someone who needs
it.
4.
Evil – This word comes from the Greek word kakia. It means malice, vicious
disposition, and wicked.
5.
Full of envy – These words come from the Greek
word phthonos and means a strong
feeling that sours because of sin’s influence. It means being glad when someone
has misfortune or pain. It is spiteful and grudging.
6.
Murder – This means the intentional killing of a
person.
7.
Strife – This word comes from eris and means a readiness to quarrel or
having a contentious spirit.
8.
Deceit – This word comes from dolos and means using bait to allure or
hook people, especially vulnerable people, like those in emotional pain or
insecurity.
9.
Malice – This word comes from kakoetheia and means evil-mindedness,
malevolence, and malignity. It is a malicious disposition that fosters and
grooms evil habits and shows itself in deceit.
10. Gossips
– This word comes from psithuristes and
means a whisperer, secret slanderer, or backstabber. It is one who secretly destroys
another person’s character.
11. Slanderers
– This word comes from katalalos and means
back-biting, and defamer-one who speaks against another.
12. Haters
of God – This comes from theostuges
meaning hating/abhoring God. Abhoring means more than ignoring God. It means to
turn away from Him in all the parts of one’s life. It is total rebellion and
denial. This word is only found in Romans 1:30 and nowhere else in the Bible.
13. Insolent
– This word comes from the word hubristes,
which means to damage others by lashing out with a nasty spirit. The person who
is insolent delights in doing wrong and hurting other people with words and
actions.
14. Arrogant
– This word comes from huperephanos
and means showing one’s self above others.
15. Boastful
– This word comes from alazon and
means a wandering vagrant boasting to anyone foolish enough to take him
seriously. This is a person claiming things he cannot really do and who must
keep moving to new listeners because people learn the truth about him.
16. Inventors
of evil – This phrase combines two words and means one who plans or discovers
ways to do evil/malice.
17. Disobedient
to parents – This describes a person who cannot be persuaded to obey his or her
parents.
18. Without
understanding – This comes from asunetos
and means unwise, unintelligent, undiscerning, and foolish because he or she cannot
understand.
19. Untrustworthy
– This word comes from asunthetos and
means being untrue or unfaithful to an agreement, sometimes intentionally so.
20. Unloving
– This word comes from astorgos and
means being without affection or love.
21. Unmerciful
– This word comes from aneleemon and
means without pity, mercy, or compassion.
After understanding these vices/sin, we must realize Paul
did not mean the sins at the top of the list are worse than those later in the
list. They each speak to the wider conventional morality. Each of these
twenty-one vices is against God and His wrath comes upon those who do them.
They lead us to the climax of verse thirty-two showing the wrath of God is
justified because of human sin. The people knew of God through created things
and through His continuing active creative presence. They realized His divinity and power,
still they turned their backs on Him. Paul said, “Although they know the
ordinance of God.” God’s moral law is part of creation. He writes it in the
consciences of all people. God gave it in His Laws. Each person can know what
is right and what is unrighteous through them. In this chapter, Paul taught about
knowing God and his moral laws through creation and God’s continuing active
presence in creation. He said Gentiles
(pagans) know those who sin against God’s moral laws are worthy of receiving
His wrath, a permanent separation from God. These people continued to sin and understood
they broke God’s moral laws. They sinned regularly so that when their sins were
put on a balance scale of righteousness and judgment, the balance dropped and
God had to mete out judgment to correct the balance. Gentiles (pagans) know (epignosko) God’s moral laws in verse
thirty-two. This “knowing” recalled the knowing of God in verse twenty-one
through what can be known about Him because He made it evident to them, as
verse nineteen says.
Because the Gentiles (pagans) can know God and have known
God because of creation and His active creative presence in the world, they are
not exempt from judgment. They know God’s moral laws, and He holds them
accountable to His moral laws, just like the Jews will be because of having the
moral law in their written codes of law from God and Gentile-background
believers will be because of having the conscience of God within themselves. Each
person sins and will be accountable for those sins. Each person needs salvation
from his or her sins to be in God’s presence forever and not to have to pay the
penalty for sins-death. The list of sins/vices Paul gave in verses twenty-nine
through thirty-one are each worthy of God’s judgment. No one sin is worse than
the other. Each sin separates a person from God and causes him or her to be due
the reward coming from God’s judgment-death. Even the applauding or approval of
such sins deserves God’s judgment and penalty. No one escapes God’s judgment-neither
Jew, Greek, or pagan. Because God is righteous, justice must happen. Jesus came
to fulfill this law. That is the point Paul will get to during the study of the
rest of this book.
·
Have you
ever done any of these vices About which Paul wrote? Be honest with yourself.
·
Have you
ever considered yourself better than someone because you didn’t murder someone
or hurt someone? No sin is greater than another. Each sin is wrong and requires
God’s justice to make it right.
·
What came
to your attention as you studied the list of sins? Do you need to seek God’s
forgiveness and renew your relationship with Him?
·
Every
person sins. Paul stated, “All have sinned fallen short of God’s glory.”
(Romans 3:23) We have to recognize our sin and our need for cleansing. We each must seek God and repent. Then He will hear and cleanse the repentant person, renewing his/her relationship with Him.
Recap
Every person who ever lived sinned. It occurs because we are
not God and, therefore, are not righteous. God gives freewill to all people.
Paul said no one was exempt from knowing God and His moral laws, not even the
pagans who had never heard about God. God can be known through creation and His
continuing creative process. When a person chooses to be his/her own god and go
his/her separate way away from God, He gives him/her over to the depravity of
his/her heart, body, and mind. This depravity leads to idolatry, sexual sins,
and decisions that lead to the vices listed in verses twenty-nine through
thirty-one. Being one’s own god leads to sin-moral failure-and separation from
God.
When we sin, we deliberately turn away from God and His ways
to do what we want. We rationalize within ourselves that we know better or we
want what we want no matter what. This stance makes us consider ourselves as
our own god. Yet we are human, mortal, and fallible. We are not almighty and
eternal God. When we sin, we deserve judgment. God gives rewards for good and
evil behavior. That is His judgment. For evil that remains unconfessed and
uncleansed, judgment is death-eternal separation from God. Judgment can also be
separation from God while alive on earth until recognition of sin and
repentance occurs. God’s righteousness requires justice. Lest you think you have not really sinned, saying, I just took $1 or R5, Paul reminded the pagans/Gentiles no
sin is a small sin. They are all sins and they each separate you from God
requiring judgment. People who practice
sin and those who approve and applaud it are worthy of death, Paul said.
Relevance and Conclusion
This should make you stop and think. What are you thinking?
Did you think of a sin in deed or thought? That’s recognition of sin and any
sin is sin against God. What you do with it now that you recognize it is up to
you. You can act like you are hiding it and go on with life, but it’s not really
hidden. You will face it again in your conscience and in God’s presence. Paul said
in Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus.” (NASB) Conversely, you can confess it to God (turning
toward God) and repent of it (turning away from evil). John said in 1 John 1:9,
“If we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (NASB)
God made it possible for each of us to be cleansed-saved-from our sins. He sent His Son, Jesus, to earth to live in human form, to be tempted
as we are tempted, yet to remain sinless, and then to die a sinner’s death of
crucifixion as the penalty-the judgment-for our sins. God did this because He
loves us and wants to be in a right relationship with each of us. He does not
want us to be separated from Him. God gives each person freewill to choose for
him/herself who he/she will follow, Him or his/her own desires. God did not
leave us to wallow in our sin and die because of our sins. Paul explained in
Ephesians 2:4-6,
But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus. (NASB)Today is your day to choose. Will you choose to follow God or continue to follow your own desires and sin?
Admit
your sins to God and repent.
By faith, accept Jesus, the Son of God, as your Savior.
