Gratitude That Adorns The Gospel-8

GRATITUDE That ADORNS The GOSPEL-VIII—Romans 1:15-25

OR: Gratitude That Graces The Gospel

Attention:

A woman was the wealthy wife of a very successful businessman. One day, she decided to have her portrait painted as a gift to her husband.

When she arrived at the artist's studio for her first sitting, she immediately explained to the artist exactly what she wanted.

“You should paint me like I am. These little wrinkles, you put them on your canvas. The lines under my eyes, the flab on my arms, the turn in my nose, & the mole on my cheek, they all stay. BUT on my hands paint me with lots of rings with big diamonds & the most exquisite of jewels. Around my neck paint chains of gold & diamonds. Do you understand?”

The artist looked at her in earnest & asked why she should want such detail of real life in her physical appearance, but adorn herself with the nonexistent jewelry.

She replied, “When I die, I know my husband will quickly re-marry. When he does, his new wife will go crazy looking for the jewels.”

The wife had herself ‘adorned’ with many jewels to gain the attention of her audience.

Likewise, God adorns Himself with the Gratitude of His people, in order to capture the attention of all who are in need of salvation.

Need:

Our lives in Christ Jesus encourage celebration with gratitude! God’s people continuously offer up sincere thanks to Him for offering them His wisdom, which in turn, causes them to view the world very differently than those who are without Christ in the world.

Christian influence in all societies encourages an appreciation for the life with which God has blessed them(although it is not always accepted).

Christians openly recognize God’s love expressed towards them in His sustained salvation & moment-by-moment blessings.

Christians openly recognize & prioritize God’s ever available invitation to approach Him with their actual needs.

Christians openly recognize God’s provision for them.

These realize that they have been abundantly blessed by the ever-living & loving Lord their God...And their lives show it!

Those who are not so inclined may still be positively influenced by the Church to such a degree that they readily attach a religious sentimentality to holidays & to life in general.

“ADORN”—To make more beautiful, or attractive; To enhance.

Titus 2:9-10—“Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.”

1Pet. 3:3-4—“Do not let your adornment be merely outward--arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel-- rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle & quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”

For the Christians in Rome, Paul delineated the relationship of gratitude to the Gospel.

Personal Gratitude must properly adorn the Gospel of Christ.

What manner of Gratitude properly adorns the Gospel of Christ?

OR...

How can your Gratitude adorn the Gospel of Christ?

9 assurances that your Gratitude is one that Adorns God’s Good News.

So far we have found that

Our Gratitude adorns the Gospel thru...

1. Our SHAMELESS TRUST(:15-16)

2. SHARING(:17)

3. REINFORCING GOD’s WRATH(:18)

4. KNOWLEDGE(:19)

5. SIGHT(:20)

6. CHOICE(:21)

7. AFFIRMATION & PRACTICE(:22-23)

8. HONOR(:24)

9—Gratitude adorns the Gospel thru...

UNWAVERING TRUST(:25)

Explanation:(:25)Unshifting/Settled

:25—“who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, & worshiped & served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

“who exchanged the truth of God for the lie,...”

Those whom God gave up to uncleanness(:24) had, thru that uncleanness, “exchanged the truth” with(“for”) “the lie.” That is, they willingly shifted priorities in their lives. They shifted from truth to “the lie” of Satan & worldly humanity.

“The lie” is highlighted & describes the ultimate “lie” of Satan—that he sees & projects himself as god rather than YHWH, & that you & I are deserving of better or more than we have.

Thus the world at large, in choosing lesser gods &/or themselves—& thereby Satan as their god—has willingly succumbed to him(Eph. 2:2—‘prince of the power of the air’).

“Who/Which”—ostiv, including the feminine--htiv & the neuter--o,ti—Pronoun—1) Whoever, whatever, who. Strong—Which some, i.e. Any that; also(def.)--Which same.

“Exchanged/Changed”—metallassw—Lit.-‘Behind another’—Verb—1) To exchange, change. Strong—To exchange. RWP—old word for exchanging trade. What a bargain they made, “the truth of God for(en) the(tw) lie.” Used 2X--Rom. 1:25 & :26.?From—meta—1) With, after, behind. Strong—a primary preposition; properly--Denoting accompaniment; “Amid”(local or causal); occupying an intermediate position between apo[off, away from] or ek, ex[from, out] & eiv[to, into] or prov[toward, near to]; less intimate than en[in] & less close than sun[with, together]).—&—allassw—To make different.—From—allov—1) Another, other. Allov denotes numerical in distinction from qualitative differences; allov adds('one besides'), eterov distinguishes('one of two'); every eterov is an allov but not every allov is a eterov; allov generally denotes simple distinction of individuals, eterov involves the secondary idea of difference of kind.