Romans Chapter 1 cont'd
Because of their idolatry, God let the nations go their own way to pursue the unclean desires of their own hearts and even abuse his purposes for their own bodies. They sold out the truth to buy the original lie- to deify the creation and thus defy the Creator who is to be eternally worshiped. That's really the bottom line. So God backed off and they plunged headlong into sexual perversion: women's natural attraction for men became twisted and they turned to lesbianism. Men also turned away from heterosexuality and burned with lust for other men. They embraced unnatural sex and, as a consequence, seriously damaged their own souls and bodies.
Because they rejected the knowledge of God they once had, he allowed their consciences to become callused and they indulged themselves in evil things without remorse. Their lives were characterized by all kinds of unrighteousness: illicit sex, wicked ways, covetousness, malice, extreme envy, murder, contentiousness, character assassination, gossip, betrayal, hatred of God, vengeance, pride, arrogance, evil innovations, disobedience to parents, ignorance, promise breaking, lack of healthy affections, stubbornness, and absence of mercy. Although they know God's justice requires a spiritual death sentence for these offenses, they themselves not only do them, but also idolize others who do.
Comments:
Whatever has happened to sin? For Paul, it was obviously alive and thriving at every turn in this world and he didn't pull any punches in this passage. In reality...not much has changed since Paul's day. But it's hard for people in our culture to look with such brutal honesty into the tragic condition of humanity and human relations removed from friendship with God. We prefer to re-designate such attitudes and behaviors with much nicer tags that minimize and even justify them. Paul's above list of sins is painful to read as it goes on and on like a downward spiral into an abyss of human brokenness and dysfunction...isn't it? (I really don't enjoy meditating on this passage.) We tend to get used to sin in our world (and in our own lives) and begin to think it is normal rather than an alien invasion into God's good creation that has pulled us down into sub-normality. But God has never "gotten used to" sin...though he is certainly not shocked or intimidated by it. Paul's purpose in exposing the darkness and sickness of humanity has a redemptive focus--he is not just being mean or wrongly judgmental. Actually, his heart was full of great love and compassion for all the people in every culture he ever encountered.
This ending of chapter 1 is focused on the universal spiritual plight of the whole pagan world. But Paul is setting his readers up for a miraculous offer of a most marvelous light and remedy in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth. We apparently won't be willing to take the medicine until we are convinced of our disease. Yet, before he begins to ingeniously unveil God's surprise of a free gift of salvation and a new beginning, he must turn his attention to sins of another genre--the sins of "God's own people"--the sins of religion gone bad.
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