Book of Romans Study
Lesson # 4
By Rev. James May
Romans 1:21 – 2:1
Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
We ended last week with these two verses in which the Apostle Paul was explaining how that men and women have rejected God, denied his existence and as a result, they became unthankful and began to create their own vision of a god of their own making, or else chose to decide that there was no God at all.
As a result of the rejection of the only source of Truth and Light, which is the God of all Creation, then their understanding was darkened and they no longer have an unshakeable foundation upon which to establish their beliefs. Men would rather believe their own imaginations than to accept the truth of the Existence of an Omniscient and Omnipotent, Holy God.
Men became so convinced in their own deceit that they actually thought themselves as wiser than God, if he even existed.
But regardless of how “wise” they think they are; God call them fools if they do not believe and serve him.
David said in Psalms 14:1, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God…”
The voice of those who say that God is dead; that there is no God; that God is whoever or whatever you say he is; that all god’s created by man are the same; that all religions are the same and lead to the same end; those voices are the voices of the greatest fools among men.
These are the voices of the ungodly that will face the wrath of God.
Paul continues now in his explanation of how far man has gone in his attempts to rid his consciousness of the existence of God. With each passing generation, this attempt at erasing God from the interference he brings into the existence of man and all things only grows stronger.
Let me say that when we lose touch with the ideas and foundations that create freedom and understanding in the hearts of men, then we lose also the ability to remain free. Freedom must be based upon absolute truth and an infallible foundation, or it is soon corrupted and lost forever.
That’s what is happening in our national constitution, but even worse, it is happening in the Church as well. When we begin to conform to the imagination of God in our own minds instead of basing what we believe on the Truth of God’s Word, then everything else in our world comes crashing down eventually.
The freedom of salvation through the blood of Jesus; the freedom of the Righteousness that is given to us by the Righteousness of Christ; the freedom from the requirements of the Law of God that are fulfilled in Christ; the inheritance that we have in Heaven because of Christ; and the process of mediation between man and God that comes only in Jesus, are forever lost.
When we lose that because of our own vain imaginations and allowing ourselves to be deceived into believing that God is no more and that Jesus and the Cross are nothing but fairy tales to make men feel good, then we have lost everything.
Without Jesus, there is nothing but condemnation and judgment ahead. Let us beware lest these truths are stolen through our own vain imaginations, or by listening to the lies and deceit of those whom Satan will place in our path to draw us aside. That’s his job and he’s getting better at it all the time. Christians beware, lest your faith is destroyed and your eternal life lost. Listen to the Word of God, and not the voices of foolish men, whomever they may be. Let God be True and every man a liar!
Romans 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
When men won’t believe the Truth of the existence of a Holy, Beneficent God, then they create in their own minds and hearts, a substitute. Very few men will refuse to exist in a “higher power”. Even the Atheist will have to admit that there is some Karma, or driving force that keeps all life moving. But instead of the True God, we begin to imagine our own gods.
We change that which is perfect in every way, without sin, without corruption; and in God’s place we make our own image.
Paul used the word “changed”, but let me say that whatever man decides about God, does not change anything of the reality of Who God is. God is the same yesterday, today and forever; and the Bible says that God changes not! So the only thing changed is man perception and believe, but not the reality of God at all. The only change is within the hearts of men.
Many worship men, such as Mohammed, Buddha, Joseph Smith, or someone else, claiming that these sinful, corrupted and rebellious men have the power to change things in their lives.
Others worship birds, insects, animals of all sorts and even serpents, believing that somehow the “spirit of the eagle”, or the “spirit of the bear”, will have some magical power. How terrible to make that which is created appear to be better than He who did the Creating!
By changing from the perfect nature of God, man has degraded his worship. Instead of adoring a God that is clothed in majesty and honor, man has bowed to things are degrading and humiliating. There is no majesty in sinful man; and there is no glory in any of the corruptible things of nature. Yet that’s what man would rather worship and believe is his god.
Throughout history man has created gods of other men, gods made into their own corrupted condition. Remember Jupiter, Hercules, Romulus, Caesar and Pharaoh. These were all images from the imagination and mind of man, and no gods at all. But man would rather worship man, for it removes the accountability of a Perfect God who will judge all corrupted men.
In the Chinese and Vietnamese cultures, they believe in the mystical powers of animals and even claim that each year carries a special significance such as the Year of the Tiger, Year of the Dog, Year of the Monkey and others. They choose to believe that these animals can give them special powers. And don’t forget about the Golden Calf of the Israelites who believed that a golden image of their own making was more powerful and deserved more worship than the God of Moses.
One of the creeping things that man has worshipped is the Crocodile, such as in Egyptian beliefs.
In the second century AD there was a group in Egypt called Ophites who worshipped a serpent and still called themselves Christians. The Egyptians worshipped just about everything from the sun and moon, to animals and even plants. Egypt had a great impact upon the spreading of idolatry throughout the world at the height of the Egyptian Dynasties. Perhaps that is one reason that God brought the plagues upon Egypt, to show them how far they had fallen and that their imaginary gods had no power against the True God.
Romans 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
These verses in God’s Word are the most hated words of all by many in our society today. They refuse to believe them; to read them and would rather they were never written. It’s all because there is no place in the whole Bible where their sin is so blatantly pointed out and condemned. But no matter how much they deny it, the Truth is still the Truth and there will be a reckoning day.
Because mankind refuses to hear the Word of God and worship the True God, then God, who allows all men to make their own choices, must allow free will to be among man. After all, in any constitution, even the Christian Constitution, men can choose to do good or do evil.
If you wanted to go out right now and rob a bank, it would be your choice to do it and if you decide to throw aside all caution, every whisper of the Holy Ghost to stop, then you can do whatever you want. But remember, with every decision there is a consequence. God won’t stop you from having freedom, but the price you will pay for disobedience is also required by the Law.
You can have freedom to do what’s good and right and receive the rewards of that life, or you can have the freedom to do the wrong and then be forced to pay the price of the Law.
Because men chose to deny God and not give him the glory he deserved, God gave them up to do what they wanted. In the heart of sinful man, there is no depth of corruption and sin which he will not try to attain. With every passing day, the evil heart of man, who refuses to serve God, only grows worse and more degraded. That’s why so much that goes on in this world is no longer shocking. We have grown accustomed to the deep, dark, depraved heart of sin and all of the actions of people that are the result of their refusal to serve God.
When men refuse the perfect love of God and plan of God for their lives and the thought of their bodies being the temple of the Holy Ghost, then that gives people the freedom to use and abuse their own bodies without limits.
God gave man the choice to partake in sin if that’s what man wants, and that’s what man has chosen above the glory of God. Men and women everywhere are caught up in engaging in vile affections, which are degenerate passions and lustful desires. This is the condition of the whole world that can be considered as pagan, or heathen; denying the holiness of God.
Paul here is trying to tell the saints at Rome that all men need a way to justify themselves and make things right with God. The natural ways of man will never suffice to fulfil the righteousness required by the Law of God, for they are sinful. The shame of naming the sin is not bad; but the shame is that it has to be named in the first place, for such things should never have been known among men who were created in the image of God.
Men not only do not deny their sin; but they boast upon it, as though they are rubbing their filth in the very face of God and saying, “If there is a God, let’s see you do something about this.” And since God is longsuffering and not quick to send the deserved judgment, man thinks that he has won the argument.
Paul is saying that even in the early days of the church, these vile sins were going on among the pagans. It was proof enough that men were degenerate, locked in chains of sin and shame, and needed a Savior.
He talks about the women of his day, among the unbelievers and heathens that behaved in some very vile lustful practices, abusing themselves and denying God’s existence, giving themselves over to the lust of their own bodies.
Paul is talking here about the sin of sodomy. He never called it “Gay”, for there is nothing gay about it. It is sin! It is deadly! It is dishonorable! It will be judged by the Righteous God.
Preaching like this is fast becoming, and already is in many places, called a “Hate Crime”. Gays will not believe that they are acting in a sinful manner, but consider it natural animalistic human instinctive behavior and something they are born with. Yes, they are born in sin, and sin remains and grows ever deeper, but it is in no way excused by God and will be judged unless men repent and turn back to the worship of the True God of Heaven. Denial that it’s sin is no excuse!
Romans 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Men think that by denying the Truth, it becomes a lie, and the lie that they make up then becomes the new truth. That’s how far the hearts of rebellious men have become deceived. By serving himself as his own god, and removing the idea of a Supernatural God, man then believes he has the right to do with his own body as he wills without consequences for sin. That’s the result of humanism, evolution and denial that there is a Creator God. Without the true image of God as presented in God’s Word, man can make his own god in whatever image he wants to imagine.
Romans 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Romans 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Because of their idolatrous practices, God left the rebellious hearts of men and women to very dishonourable actions. We call it “sodomy” and “sinful lust”, while those engaged in such sin call it natural.
It’s not in God’s design for women to become prostitutes, or men to become gigolos. God never created men to sell, abuse or use their bodies to follow the natural, sinful course of action, but to be a blessing under the guidelines of marriage.
For sinful man, it’s all about satisfying selfish, sinful lusts at all cost. For those who worship God, it’s about living by God’s Word and glorifying God in everything we do, and that includes whatever we do with this body that God has created for us.
What is that “recompence of their error”? It’s the judgment of God against the sin that is committed. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by the fire of God’s wrath for those very sins; so will all who practice those sins today face the fire of God’s wrath unless they repent, and it doesn’t matter how much they want to claim that it’s right or natural. In God’s eyes, it is sin, and his opinion is the only one that will count in the end.
Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
How can a Just God choose to give men over to a reprobate mind? If you remember, this is exactly what happens after the Rapture of the Church. Those who refuse to serve God now, and desire to forget him and live in sin wilfully, will be given a reprobate mind.
The reason God is justified is that they had every opportunity to know him. And in fact, all men knew that there is a God. The very conscious within them tells them that sin is sin, but they won’t hear the warnings and choose to ignore everything that God does to turn them around. They set their face like flint to sin and nothing can move them. Therefore God says, “If that’s what you want; then go do it, but remember, there is a judgment day coming and there will be a price to pay for your sin.”
A reprobate mind is filled with vanity, and is empty of any thoughts of sin and evil. It is worthless in its ability to discern right from wrong, and no longer cares. A reprobate mind is unable to rightly judge that which is evil. The conscience no longer works. It cares not what God thinks, or what other men may think. It is completely selfish and self-gratifying at all costs.
Paul continues to point out the condition of the reprobate mind that is within every man who denies God or refuses to worship Him.
Romans 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Romans 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Romans 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Romans 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
If there was ever a day when all of these things are truly evident in the hearts of men who will not serve or acknowledge God, we are there now. Every one of these things is very evident in our society. Mankind has cast righteousness to the wind, denied the very existence of God and has changed the Truth into a lie. He creates in his own imaginations, reasons and excuses that justify his every action.
God’s Word declares that the wages of sin is death; and all men know this, but they deny the power of the Word and refuse to accept that they will ever have to answer for anything they do. The world is filled with people who have reprobate minds, and it seems that more are getting that way every day.
Let it not be so among those of us who are Christians; and yet I have seen that from the ranks of those who were once Christians, comes the worst of the worst, and the vilest of the vile because they have spurned the Love of God and have turned away completely, and have now received that reprobate mind to sin against God and against themselves without measure.
Once you could speak of how that God loves the sinner, but hates the sin, and it would be an acceptable way of reaching out to those caught in homosexuality and the gay lifestyle, but no more.
Men have become so trapped by the sin that they no longer accept that there is such a thing. They don’t want any mention of God, with or without love. And they will accept no warning against sin. Anyone who speaks of such things is judged as being judgmental, self-righteous, prejudiced and filled with hate.
Like Paul says, “We are become their enemy because we speak the Truth.” The Truth is no longer acceptable. All men will believe is their own image of themselves as their own god so that they can imagine living their own way without any consequences.
Romans 2:1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
In the end, there will be no excuses acceptable for the rebellious heart of man against God. Let the sinner judge the Word, and the saint of God, as being hateful and judgmental. The judgments that the sinner has against God and his Word, will come back to haunt them. Their own judgments will condemn them. What they try to accuse us of, in calling us everything in the book, is exactly what they are guilty of and will receive punishment for. There is no excuse for sin, and no excuse for not serving God.
In the end, it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul is preaching that is the only answer to bring the souls of sinful men to repentance. We cannot be ashamed of the gospel. It is the only power, through the blood of Jesus, that can deliver the homosexual and those practicing sodomy. God can and will forgive that sin too, if the sinner will repent.
That’s what Paul is saying. His life is spent in preaching to those who don’t want to hear him. His words fall upon many deaf ears and many of those to whom he preaches will try to kill him or stop him. Yet Paul says that he isn’t ashamed of the gospel and is ready to give himself for the cause of Christ, and for that reason, he is ready to go even now, to the very center of all of this activity in the Roman Empire and build a church for the glory of God. That’s his purpose and plan for going to Rome, along with helping the saints of God that are already there.
How can those caught in homosexuality see these words and then say that the Bible never speaks out against their sin? It’s because of that reprobate mind and the refusal to believe in God or His Word. It’s a heart that is stone and a mind set like concrete to believe that they are answerable to no one but themselves and there will be no consequences for their sin, and in fact, they don’t believe it is sin, but an acceptable, natural way of life.
That’s what they’re teaching our kids in school, that they should try that lifestyle to see if it doesn’t seem right. And sadly, it will seem right to those who try it because of that reprobate mind that exists in the heart of every sinner.
I can only hope and pray that many will hear the gospel and repent. The grace of God still reaches out to those caught in the degenerate lifestyle of the homosexual community, just as much as he reaches out to those caught in any lifestyle of sinner.
Is it any harder for God to forgive a homosexual and change their heart, than it is for God to change a liar, or a thief, or an alcoholic or a drug addict? NO – God’s power of love and forgiveness is enough for all the sin of man. Jesus even took upon himself the sin of the homosexual when he hung upon the cross and there is power in the Blood of Jesus to cleanse that soul from sin.
God loves the sinner, but hates the sin, and will save that sinner if they will only hear and come to him. Even if many don’t want to hear those words spoken, they’re still true.
