The Natural Result Of The Unnatural Mind
Text: Rom. 1:24-32
Introduction
1. Illustration: C. S. Lewis ended an essay saying this:
"These, then, are the two points I wanted to make. First, that human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in."
2. The truth of the matter is this, the laws of God make sense. They are based on nature, the nature he created.
3. The sad reality is that we have chosen what is unnatural, and then we pay the price for our bad choices.
4. Paul says that we have been...
A. Trading The Truth Of God For A Lie
B. Trading Natural Relations For Unnatural Ones
C. It Was A Bad Trade
5. Let's all stand together as we read Romans 1:24-32.
Proposition: In our arrogance we have traded the natural truth of God for an unnatural lie of Satan.
Transition: First Paul says that we have been...
I. Trading The Truth Of God For A Lie (24-25).
A. Traded The Truth Of God
1. If you remember, last week we talked about how humans have turned away from God and chosen to worship idols rather than God. As a result, God is angry and one day Jesus will return to judge us for sin.
2. Paul here continues that argument and shows us the result of our bad choices.
3. In v. 24 Paul says, "So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies."
A. The verb for "abandoned" here means to "deliver them over for punishment." The idea that Paul is referring to here is a judicial act by God.
B. Since they have chosen to not acknowledge God, he has handed them over to their own shameful desires; a term which is often used in Scripture for sexual immorality.
C. This does not mean that God forced them to do these things, but rather that he simply let their sin run its course.
D. This flies in the face of the homosexual community today who say that they are homosexual because God made them that way.
E. Paul is saying that God gave them up to do whatever they wanted to do. God handed them over to dishonor their own bodies through sexual immorality.
F. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the moral state of the Roman Empire of Paul's day, or our own society today, to see the extent with which sexual sin dishonors the body.
G. Without moral standards, sex is downgraded to animal behavior. There is an emptiness and sadness behind the state of the world without God (Osborne, 51).
4. Next Paul goes back to an argument he made a few verses earlier. In v. 25 he says, "They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen."
A. Not only did their trade God's glory and power for idols, but they also trade human lies instead of divine truth.
B. They traded the truth about God, the truth that he made known through natural revelation, about his divine power and glory.
C. Instead they traded it for a lie, choosing to worship the creature rather than the Creator. This is the essence of idolatry.
D. Then Paul adds a benediction. There are three places in his writings that Paul uses a benediction, here and in Rom. 9:5 and 2 Cor. 11:31.
E. Following Jewish tradition, adds his own praise in honor of the Creator. He is so horrified at the idea of the desecration of God in pagan idolatry that he feels the need to praise God.
F. It's almost as if he is using it to wash the bad taste out of his mouth (Osborne, 51-52).
B. Knowledge Of The Truth
1. Illustration: Two men had an argument. To settle the matter, they went to a judge for arbitration. The plaintiff made his case. He was very eloquent and persuasive in his reasoning. When he finished, the judge nodded in approval and said, "That's right, that's right." On hearing this, the defendant jumped up and said, "Wait a second, judge, you haven't even heard my side of the case yet." So the judge told the defendant to state his case. And he, too, was very persuasive and eloquent. When he finished, the judge said, "That's right, that's right." When the clerk of court heard this, he jumped up and said, "Judge, they both can't be right." The judge looked at the clerk of court and said, "That's right, that's right."
2. Isn't that the way our society is today! Everybody is right and nobody is wrong (well except Christians).
3. As Christians it is our job to speak the truth, but to do it in a loving way.
A. 2 Timothy 2:25-26 (NLT2)
25 Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth.
26 Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.
B. There is no doubt that our society has turned their backs on God.
C. They have bought into the lies of Satan accepting them as truth.
D. They have fallen into his trap and taken in all of the garbage that he spits out.
E. God is calling us to speak the truth, but he is not calling us to argue and shout the truth.
F. He is not calling us to fight with people and speak condescendlingly towards them.
G. He is calling us to speak the truth in love the way he did.
H. We need to speak truth like Jesus did to the woman at the well and the woman caught in adultery.
I. We need to share the truth and not shove it down their throats.
Transition: The natural result of trading the truth for a lie is...
II. Trading Natural Relations For Unnatural Ones (26-27).
A. Turned Against The Natural Way
1. What we fail to realize is that our sin is not in a vacum. It's more like a domino effect and our sin causes a chain reaction. That is what Paul says here.
2. In turning from God, accepting lies over truth and worshiping the creature over the Creator, we have set evil things in motion.
3. In v. 26 Paul says, "That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other."
A. Paul shows here what happens when a society praises the creature instead of the Creator.
B. He says, "Even women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other."
C. So God's judgment is to give them over to homosexual practices.
D. He stresses that they turned against the natural way to an unnatural way indicating that homosexual activity is against God's created order.
E. So not only is Paul saying this is unnatural but it is also against what God intended for his creation.
F. Now the homosexual community today insists that it is perfectly acceptable to God to practice homosexuality because "God made me this way!"
G. However, this is contrary to everything that Scripture teaches on this subject, and furthermore, is contrary to the very nature of God (Osborne, 53).
4. Furthermore, Paul says that not only did women exchange natural relations for unnatural ones, but so did the men. In v. 27 he says, "And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved."
A. Here Paul continues his argument turning from female homosexual practices to male by pointing out three perversions: abandoning normal sexual activity with women (indicating that God intended sex to be between a man and a woman), burned with lust for one another (using strong language describing them as burning up with desire), and doing shameful things with one another.
B. It is ironic that Paul uses the word "shameful" here, because several times in the OT where a crowd of men come to a man's house insisting that he send out his house guest so that they may have sex with him, the owner of the house pleads with them not to do such a "shameful" thing. You will find these references in Genesis 19 and Judges 19-21.
C. Paul consistently follows biblical teaching that homosexuality is contrary to the way that God intended sex practice for his creation.
D. Even though our society today preaches, and make no mistake preaching is exactly what they are doing, true Christians must follow the commands of God rather than the political correctness of society (Osborne, 54).
5. Paul's treatment of homosexual behavior falls in the middle of two other major areas at which God shows anger (1:18).
A. The first is sinful worship; the third is a whole list of personal and relational sins.
B. It is important to note that Paul is using homosexual practices to indicate the extent to which sin has brought chaos into every area of life.
C. Homosexuality (to exchange or abandon natural relations of sex) was as widespread in Paul's day as it is in ours. Many pagan practices encouraged it.
D. God is willing to receive anyone who comes to him in faith, and Christians should love and accept others no matter what their background.
E. But homosexual behavior is strictly forbidden in Scripture.
F. Homosexuality is considered an acceptable practice by many in our world today -even by some churches. But society does not set the standard for God's law.
G. Many homosexuals believe that their desires are normal and that they have a right to express them. But God does not encourage us to fulfill all of our desires (even normal ones).
H. Desires that violate God's laws must be controlled. God offers freedom from those sins through Jesus Christ and power to control our desires through the Holy Spirit (Barton, 584).
B. Will Not Inherit The Kingdom
1. Illustration: I really love what NT Scholar Douglas Moo says about this topic. He says, "
Most modern cultures have undergone a bewilderingly rapid sea change in views on homosexuality. What was condemned twenty years ago is now accepted - indeed, sometimes advocated - as an "alternative lifestyle." It is not easy for Christians to get their bearings when so sudden and violent a shift occurs. Some too quickly go with the flow and read the change in culture into the Bible; others so strongly resist the flow that they go beyond what the Bible says (Moo, NIV Application Commentary, The: NIV Application Commentary: Romans, 65).
2. Scripture is CRYSTAL CLEAR, homosexuality is a sin...but it is only a sin!
A. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NLT2)
9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality,
10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.
B. All of Scripture is clear on the topic of homosexuality. Both the OT and NT describe it as both sinful and shameful.
C. You cannot argue from Scripture in support of homosexuality without changing it or distorting it.
D. The Bible is also clear that those who practice it will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
E. Churches that accept homosexuality as normal and accepted by God are teaching things that are absolutely wrong!
F. However, to treat homosexuals as anything more than sinners is also wrong.
G. To treat them as deplorable or subhuman is also against everything that the Bible teaches.
H. Yes, homosexuality is a sin, but so is adultery among heterosexuals.
I. We need to embrace the people in love while not accepting their sinful behavior.
J. God's grace and forgiveness is for everyone, including homosexuals!
Transition: The natural conclusion to these unnatural trades is...
III. It Was A Bad Trade (28-32).
A. He Abandoned Them To Their Foolish Thinking
1. Now you all know that I am a big Cleveland Browns fan, and for the past 25 years that has been very painful. One of the most painful memories was a few years ago was when the Browns traded a first round draft pick for a second round draft pick and a quarterback named Brock Osweiler and his $17 million dollar a year contract. It was obvious during the preseason that you that he was horrible and the Browns cut him from the team. So they basically paid $17 million dollars for a second round draft pick. It was a bad trade!
2. Throughout this section Paul has been saying that humans traded the truth of God for a lie. It was a bad trade!
3. In v. 28 Paul says, "Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done."
A. In this verse Paul draws a clear connection between idolatry and sexual perversion.
B. It is the price of refusing to acknowledge God.
C. The first part of this verse means that they tested God and found him unworthy of their attention.
D. If you have ever seen the movie "A Knight's Tale," you remember the phrase from the movie, "you have been weighed, you have been measured, and found wanting."
E. In the second part of the verse Paul says, "God abandoned them to their foolish thinking."
F. The term foolish means "empty, or worthless."
G. Since they wanted nothing to do with God he abandoned them to the natural result of that kind of thinking.
H. This mindset is one that is incapable of making the right decisions. This is the depraved mind, choosing always the path to decay and destruction (Osborne, 55).
4. Again Paul demonstrates the domino effect of sin in vv. 29-31, "Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.
31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy."
A. Paul begins a list of vices that are the result of turning against God. The first four are general sins that introduce the list (wickedness, sin, greed, and hate).
B. The language Paul uses suggests jars filled to the brim with evil.
C. Three of the four are synonyms that describe the sinful nature of the immoral person, giving great emphasis to the depth of the sin.
D. Greed is a part of the list because it is one of the main sources of evil, the self-centered desire to have everything for yourself.
E. The next five vices are a desire to mistreat others (envy, murder, quarreling, deception and malicious behavior).
F. Envy is the natural result of greed and leads into those that follow.
G. The vices that remain can be grouped like this,
i. sins of the tongue (gossip and backstabbers),
ii. sins of pride (haters of God, insolent, proud and boastful),
iii. on the spot sins (invent new ways of sinning and disobeying parents),
iv. negative sins (refuse to understand, break their promises, heartless, and have no mercy) (Osborne, 57).
5. Paul concludes this chapter by showing the ultimate result of the sin domino...chaos. In v. 32 he says, "They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too."
A. In conclusion Paul says that people know that the righteous justice of God says that those who do such things deserve to die, but they don't care, they do them anyway.
B. In addition, they encourage others to do them too!
C. The main point is that God has given each human being a deep awareness of two things: 1) the existence and power of God, 2) we are all guilty before God because of our sin (Osborne, 58).
B. In The Last Days
1. Illustration: Well it's okay to murder babies
But we really ought to save the whales
We're putting criminals in office
Cause it's way too crowded in the jails
T.V. is our teacher now
The schools are overrun by thugs
And children skip their innocence
and graduate to sex and drugs
Right is wrong and wrong is right
White is black and black is white
I think I just lost my appetite
Stop the world I want to get off
Stop the world
I want to get off
This is too weird for me
Stop the world
I want to get off
I get the definite impression
That this isn't how it's meant to be (Stop The World by Randy Stonehill).
2. When we trade the truth of God for the lies of Satan we get far less than what we bargained.
A. 2 Timothy 3:1-4 (NLT2)
1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times.
2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.
3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good.
4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.
B. How familiar does this sound to you? Does it not sound like the society we live in?
C. I think we could read it "in our day!"
D. People today are lovers of self - if it feels good do it!
E. People are lovers of money - look out for number 1!
F. And the list goes on and on.
G. This is what happens when you make a bad trade. When you trade God for Satan and truth for a lie.
H. There's only one solution...call people back to God.
I. Call the church back to God.
J. Call the church back to the altar.
K. Call the church back to the cross!
L. "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray..."
Conclusion
1. Paul says that we have been...
A. Trading The Truth Of God For A Lie
B. Trading Natural Relations For Unnatural Ones
C. It Was A Bad Trade
2. THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER...
A. TRADING THE TRUTH OF GOD FOR THE LIES OF SATAN WILL DESTROY A SOCIETY FROM THE INSIDE OUT.
B. SCRIPTURE IS CLEAR, HOMOSEXUALITY IS SIN, BUT IT'S ONLY A SIN! HATE THE SIN LOVE THE SINNER!
C. IT'S TIME TO CALL THE WORLD TO JESUS AND THE CHURCH TO ACTION.
