God’s wrath against sinful humanity (Part 2)
Romans 1:18 – 32
(continue after the message posted last week)
The sin starts from “no respect” or “no gratitude” which was followed by foolish heart and heart with darkness (21). So, the 2nd stage of the sin is ‘foolishness’ or ‘becoming fools’ – fooled and deceived by the falsehood/darkness/the devil.
As shown in v23 and v25, the 3rd stage of the sin is idolatry. They idolized mortal human, birds, animals and reptiles (23). They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator (25).
The 4th stage of the sin is sexual impurity and immorality (24).
The 5th stage of the sin is homosexuality (26).
Paul repeated “God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts (24)”, “God gave them over to shameful lust (26)”, and “God gave them over to a depraved mind (28)”. This shows when people are living sinful lives, they are in fact forsaken by God as the parents forsake disobedient and rebellious children. Jesus cried out on the cross, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) in Mark 15:34. We sinners deserve abandonment from God. But Jesus was forsaken instead of us.
In v27, Paul mentions that homosexual relationship brought them the due penalty for their error. We know the homosexual suffer AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), which is final state of HIV decease which causes severe damage to the immune system.
v28-32 shows the final stage of the sin.
See v28.
Furthermore, just as they did not think it worth while to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.
See v29 – 31.
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.
See v32.
Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
In summary, sins in the final stage are social sins. They sin together as a culture in the society and approve those who practice them. We are living in the world which is full of such social sins. People around us may more likely be doing wrong. So, whatever they do, we don’t have to follow them.
Instead, we better look at God’s Word. When we continue to study the Bible, we will be able to make significant difference in our lives. Like the light in the darkness, God’s Word will lead us as a lamp in our feet in the darkness. See Psalm 119:105.
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
Also, see John 8:12.
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’
People who do not know God’s Word will stumble upon obstacles in the darkness and be ensnared by them.
[Reference]
[1] The Holy Bible: New International Version (Anglicised Edition, 2011). (2011). (Revised and updated edition., Ro 1:18). London: Hodder & Stoughton.
