By God's grace my intentions are to come to better personal understanding of Romans. I have been in chapter one for two weeks and I am nowhere yet. This passage begins with some definition of the unrighteous proceeded by a wonderful act of grace on God's part to make Himself known to the unrighteous. However, the following list is how the ungodly respond to the glory and beauty of God.
Try to discern what you would do with such a person as this:
Supress the truth in their unrighteousness
They know God
They do not glorify Him as God
They are not thankful, but futile (vain, meaningless conclusions - McArthur)
Foolish dark hearts
Claim to be wise - believe in themselves
Change God's glory into an earthly image
Worship creation instead of the Creator
At this point God gives them over to their debased mind
Lust - Dishonoring their own bodies (unclean)
Exchange the truth of God for a lie
The Lie - There is no God who deserves obedience and glory
Vile passions - Homosexuality/Lesbianism
Try to forget there is a God
Debased minds - "Not passing the test" (worthless metals - discarded for impurity)
Unrighteous
Sexually Immoral
Wicked
Covetous
Malicious
Envious
Produce Strife
Deceivers
Evil-minded
Whisperers (Gossipers)
Backbitters
Haters of God
Violent
Proud
Boasters
Inventors of Evil Things
Disobedient to Parents
Undiscerning
Untrustworthy
Unloving
Unforgiving
Unmerciful
Blatant Rebelliousness (Because they know God -yet do these things)
Pauls logical conclusion to this list is: "those who practice such things are deserving of death..."
May God help us if for one moment we come to believe we are in any way deserving of ANYTHING in this life or the life that is to come. May God help us to bow in humble obedience each day to the authority of our Savior and King! May God help us to communicate the truth in Corinthians that we have "NOTHING that we have not RECEIVED" to our children surrounded by the deep waters of man centered living in the world and in the so called "church". May we acknowledge that the only reason that we don't do the things in this list on a regular basis is because GOD has caused us to not do these things. He has "shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." All of this because on our very best days - we could not keep one of these things to it's fullest of our own free will! God grant us the grace to live off the fuel of this reality!
DT
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hey bro,
Very humbling to think about. If we could only remember where we've come from as sinners and God's amazing grace, that might just eliminate a little pride once in a while. Romans delivers a powerful punch, huh. Well, I hope to hear some good news today. Don't disappoint me.:) By the way, having a kid will also humble you. It shows you how selfish we are as human beings. Thanks for the challenging commment!
JT
Post a Comment