Alliance Church
May 20, 2001
Pastor David Welch
“The Ragged Road to Atheism”
Romans 1:18-23
Introduction to the series
My goal throughout this endeavor is that we will more deeply understand the great truths of our great salvation so wonderfully presented in chapters 1-8 and having understood them more deeply seek to live them more diligently as encouraged in chapters 12-16.
Consider this series a spiritual journey intended by God to deepen your walk with Him.
Commit to applying truth as you encounter it and God enlightens it.
This is more than an intellectual exercise.
This is a spiritual pilgrimage to greater spiritual maturity.
I am much more interested in evidence of the spiritual renewal presented in Romans than our ability to intellectually recall selected facts about Romans.
Review
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INTRODUCTION 1:1-17
Paul’s Personal Portrait
“Paul”
“A bond-servant of Christ Jesus”
“A called apostle”
“Having been separated (by God) for the gospel of God”
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of God,
about Christ,
according to the Scripture,
for the nations,
unto the obedience of faith,
for the sake of the Name.
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Paul’s Fiery Passion
Passion to Pray
Passion to Promote spiritual maturity
Passion to Preach the Gospel
I am under obligation to preach the gospel
I am eager to preach the gospel
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Paul’s Firm Persuasion
I am not ashamed of the gospel
I am convinced the Gospel is the power of God for salvation
Paul skillfully slides from expressing his heart to identifying the heart of his subject.
How can a sinful person restore relationship with a holy God?
Before we enter the details concerning the subject, let’s briefly review and clarify the theme introduced in the introduction.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." 1:16-17
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The “good news” of God is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes.
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The power of the gospel message lies in its uncompromising unveiling or revealing of the righteousness of God.
This term and its cousins appear throughout the book, especially in the first four chapters.
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Translated -- just, justification, justified, right, righteous, righteousness.
The concept of each is similar.
It focuses on the state of being right, righteous, just, justified.
Just or right presupposes a standard.
Without an established standard, it is impossible to reliably resolve rightness or wrongness.
Righteousness signifies conformity to a standard.
To justify someone is to determine or declare they have not violated the accepted standard.
ILLUS:
If I go to court, the prosecutor tries to prove I violated the law.
The defense attorney seeks to get me justified or acquitted and prove I conformed to the law.
A righteous person is someone who conforms to a standard.
The righteousness of God is the state of absolute conformity to His standard.
God reveals his righteousness and the means to obtain it in the Gospel message.
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The Holy Spirit continually convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.
• Failure to believe in Jesus leaves mankind to deal with sin on their own.
• God requires absolute conformity to the law (His standard) in order to be saved.
• Failure to perfectly conform to the His standard requires judgment.
Only those who stand righteous with God’s level or rightness will discover life.
In an age where absolutes are abolished and every person embraces what is right in their own eyes there is no sense of offense against God.
Paul sought to demonstrate that every person stands guilty before God.
Jesus called his followers to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Not attempting to do what is right according to their own standard but living according to HIS righteousness.
The gospel’s power lies in its revelation of God’s standard and conformity to it and how to be justified or declared righteousness through the saving work of Christ and how to enter into a restored relationship with God.
This “righteousness” of God is revealed by means of “faith to faith.”
We find right standing with God (righteousness) on the basis of faith and faith alone.
BASIC OUTLINE FOR ROMANS
Personal Matters
I. Receive the gift of God’s righteousness by faith 1-5
II. Apply the gift of God’s righteousness by understanding 6-8
III. Don’t miss the gift of God’s righteousness like Israel 9-11
IV. Live the gift of God’s righteousness by submission 12-15
Personal Matters
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I. Receive the gift of God’s righteousness by faith 1-5
A. Every man needs God’s righteousness because all have sinned 1-3
1. The self-centered hedonist has sinned 1:18-32
Before Paul reveals the gift of God’s righteousness he had to address man’s unrighteousness and God’s true feelings about it.
Not only does the gospel bring to light the righteousness of God but it also reveals the wrath of God against those suppressing His truth by their ungodliness and unrighteousness.
A line of reasoning beginning at verse 18 and running on into chapter 3 proves all men woefully short of what it takes to be right with God.
Whether a self-centered hedonist, a moralist or legalist, all men have sinned and come short of the glory of God in danger of eternal punishment and deserved judgment.
God’s wrath has been stirred against all men because all have sinned against Him.
All have intentionally ignored Him and violated His standard.
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For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 1:18
In contrast to a righteous God (a God who absolutely conforms to His own moral standard) man suppresses the truth (the standard of God) in his UN-righteousness behavior.
Unrighteousness indicates a failure to conform to the universal standard of behavior.
God is mad because man suppresses the truth concerning the Creator/creature relationship.
Man continually holds down, squashes, suppresses, restrains truth by his actions.
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Ungodliness = a life without God.
Unrighteousness = a life without God’s standard.
The more culture ignores God and his standard, the more the truth is suppressed.
Truth practiced is truth proclaimed.
Truth disregarded is truth restrained.
What angered God?
Even though they knew Him they failed to honor him. (vs 21)
Even thought they knew His standard they blatantly failed to follow it. (vs 32)
The best way to view this passage is to gather together the specifics of man’s ungodliness and unrighteousness and then observe the corresponding response of God.
First READ the entire passage together.
Man’s ungodliness and unrighteousness
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• They suppressed the truth by their godless lifestyle.
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 1:18
The more prevalent bad behavior the more accepted it becomes.
We are very adaptable people even in the face of behavior we once abhorred.
Soon what was once abhorred becomes first tolerated then embraced.
What we once believed to be sin because God said it now becomes acckepted because man lived it.
In this way the truth about righteousness is suppressed.
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• They once knew God leaving them without excuse.
that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 19-20
A reasoned knowledge of God is evident within every person.
“Evident” to shine, make apparent, cause to appear, plain.
Why? Because God Himself conspicuously displayed His divine signature in all he has created!
All of creation bears the stamp of extreme intelligence and power.
God put overwhelming evidence of His power and glory everywhere in His creation from the unending vastness of outer space to the invite reaches of the microscopic world; it all points to unfathomable intelligence, design and order.
“clearly seen” to see or perceive something clearly.
“being understood” through what has been made by God.
Over and over ins Scripture when man is confused or falling away, God first refosues their thinking regarding His signature in creation.
When Job was confused about the justice and fairness of God; demanind an explanation.
God gave Job a lesson in creation. Where were you?
Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:
"Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? Brace yourself, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.
"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Do you know how its dimensions were determined and who did the surveying? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
"Who defined the boundaries of the sea as it burst from the womb, and as I clothed it with clouds and thick darkness? For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. I said, ’Thus far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’
"Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? Have you ever told the daylight to spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness? For the features of the earth take shape as the light approaches, and the dawn is robed in red. The light disturbs the haunts of the wicked, and it stops the arm that is raised in violence.
"Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you walked about and explored their depths? Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom? Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know! Job 38:1-18
God sent Isaiah to encourage the discouraged Israelites suffering from self-pity and questioning the compassion of God to deliver them.
Messenger of good news, shout to Zion from the mountaintops! Shout louder to Jerusalem—do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, "Your God is coming!" Yes, the Sovereign LORD is coming in all his glorious power. He will rule with awesome strength. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes. He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.
Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed out the mountains and the hills? Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD? Who knows enough to be his teacher or counselor? Has the LORD ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good or what is best? No, for all the nations of the world are nothing in comparison with him. They are but a drop in the bucket, dust on the scales. He picks up the islands as though they had no weight at all. All Lebanon’s forests do not contain sufficient fuel to consume a sacrifice large enough to honor him. All Lebanon’s sacrificial animals would not make an offering worthy of our God. The nations of the world are as nothing to him. In his eyes they are less than nothing—mere emptiness and froth.
To whom, then, can we compare God? What image might we find to resemble him? Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains? Or is a poor person’s wooden idol better? Can God be compared to an idol that must be placed on a stand so it won’t fall down?
Have you never heard or understood? Are you deaf to the words of God—the words he gave before the world began? Are you so ignorant? It is God who sits above the circle of the earth. The people below must seem to him like grasshoppers! He is the one who spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing. They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and their work withers. The wind carries them off like straw.
"To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One.
Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out one after another, calling each by its name. And he counts them to see that none are lost or have strayed away.
O Israel, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles? How can you say God refuses to hear your case? Have you never heard or understood? Don’t you know that the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:9-31
In the next chapter the Lord draws attention to creation.
"I will put the cedar in the wilderness, the acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree;
I will place the juniper in the desert together with the box tree and the cypress,
That they may see and recognize, and consider and gain insight as well,
That the hand of the LORD has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. Isaiah 41:19-20
God taught David perspective in relation to Creation.
O Lord, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and nursing infants to give you praise. They silence your enemies who were seeking revenge. When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you have set in place— what are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us? For you made us only a little lower than God, and you crowned us with glory and honor. Ps 8:1-5
The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies; yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world. The sun lives in the heavens where God placed it. Psalm 19:1-4
The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples have seen His glory. Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images, who boast themselves of idols; worship Him, all you gods. Psa 97:6-7
Paul took pains to be certain everyone understood Jesus’ connection to creation.
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. Col. 1:16
The grand worship gathering at the end of time will center around Christ as creator as well as redeemer.
"Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." Rev. 4:11
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They knew God intuitively because God put a knowledge of Himself “in’ them.
They knew God intellectually because God signed every aspect of His creation.
Man has been given sufficient information so as to tolerate no excuse for unbelief.
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• They failed to honor God as his Divine nature deserves.
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God
“honor” - to glorify, to recognize, honor, praise, invest with dignity, give anyone esteem or honor by putting him into an honorable position.
Basically they failed to view God as the all-powerful Creator and only sovereign, holding absolute authority over all His creation and to whom they owed their very existence.
When Paul preached to the Greeks in Athens he sought to elevate their view of God.
"For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ’TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ’For we also are His children.’ "Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." Acts 17:23-31
A new movement is stirring among scientists today.
Even those who do not necessarily believe are finding themselves embracing the concept of intelligent design.
The more we learn the creation around us, the more difficult to reject the evidence of an all-powerful Creator deserving of glory and honor.
Not only did they not give God the honor due to the immortal, invisible God only wise…
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• They failed to give thanks.
“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks”
Rather than honoring God and being thankful for His standard and loving boundaries…
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• They engaged in futile and foolish reflection resulting in a darkened heart
but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart darkened. 1:21
“futile” vain, worthless, destitute of real wisdom, get off the track
“speculations” - “to reason, to ponder, reflect”
Their thinking regarding God and life was completely off track resulting in a darkening of their heart.
“darkened” to darken, to deprive of light.
As a result of their failure to honor God and give thanks their thinking became futile and their heart became devoid of light.
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• They became fools while professing to be wise.
Professing to be wise, they became fools, 1:22
“Professing” to affirm, to say, to declare.
Present tense – continually affirming to be wise they became “moraino” morons, dull, not acute, to cause something to lose its taste or the purpose for which it exists.
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• They exchanged the true glorious nature of God for a cheap image.
they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 1:23
To change one thing for another.
The basic premise of humanism is “man is the measure of all things.”
The creature is primary.
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• They exchanged the truth of God for a lie of the devil
they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 1:25
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• They did not approve of God in their thinking.
they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, 1:28
They rejected God’s glory
They rejected God’s truth
They rejected God altogether.
The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." Psalm 14:1
Minds that will not accept God in their thinking are that way because they refuse to live by God’s standard.
They suppress the truth in ungodliness and unrighteousness.
It is not an intellectual problem it is a moral problem.
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• They practiced things worthy of death and approved others who did likewise.
and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. 1:32
What are the things worthy of death?
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being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 1:29-31
Ungodliness leads to unrighteousness.
They knew God but rejected him in their life.
They knew God’s standard but rejected it from their life.
So what did God do?
How does God respond to ungodliness and unrighteousness?
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God’s response to Man’s ungodliness and unrighteousness
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• God gave them over to unbridled passion resulting in dishonored bodies.
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 1:24
“gave over” to deliver up or over to the power of something, to be delivered up for trial or punishment or even death.
He didn’t give up on them. He gave them over to the pain of sin’s conseqeucnes to thaty would realize that His ways are the best ways.
Having disregarded the protective principles of the Scripture in favor of unbridled burning passions, God permitted them to reap the consequences of such action.
Dishonored bodies = to abuse, treat with indignity, dishonor.
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. James 1:12-15
Paul urged the Thessalonians to deny the unbridled passions of the flesh
Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you. 1 Thes. 4:1-8
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• God gave them over to degrading passions resulting in diseased bodies.
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For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 1:26-27
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• God gave them over to depraved thinking resulting in deplorable living.
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 1:28
“depraved” unthinking, worthless, rejected, cast away, unacceptable
“not proper” what is not fitting, or proper, or convenient or right, abominable
These are the things worthy of death mentioned earlier.
Paul told the Colossians that things like these stir up the wrath of God.
Consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. Col. 3:5-7
Without the righteousness of God we must fact the wrath of God.
God will not overlook those who refuse to acknowledge Him.
We live in a deplorable world today.
Those purporting to be intelligent and wise dispense their foul and foolish thinking in books and our universities.
• New move to endorse Gay Proms
• A Ferndale school just elected a female prom king.
• The courts upheld the right of a kid to wear women’s clothes including a stuffed bra high heels and access to the women’s bathroom on the basis of encouraging self expression.
For more than a decade, Princeton ethics professor Peter Singer has been raising eyebrows -- and more than the occasional hackle -- with his writings. Whether the subject is the sanctity of human life or animal rights, you can count on Singer to embrace positions that would have been beyond the pale only twenty years ago.
His intent is to promote whatever makes people happy and to erase the distinction between animals and humans. Thus, Singer has suggested that a mother be allowed a sort of grace period in which to decide whether to keep her baby or kill it. Likewise, he has advocated euthanasia for severely handicapped children and the elderly, if it would make those around them happier.
Well, he’s at again. In a recent book review, posted on Nerve.com, Singer has come out in favor of . . . bestiality. He prefers the term "mutually satisfying activities," but he’s still talking about physical relationships with pets.
It is on the account of these things the wrath of God will come.
It is on the account of these things that incurable disease and devastating consequences on society is already here.
Application
What can we learn from this section?
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• God provides sufficient light to know Him to all who will look.
Think about how you might get people to look more carefully for God through what He has made.
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• All those who violate God’s standard, come under the sentence of death and eternal punishment and are without excuse.
He is the creator.
He makes the rules.
He sets the standards.
He determines the punishment.
The only hope of life either here or hereafter will be on his terms.
Unless you are clothes with God’s righteousness, you will not gain entrance.
It doesn’t matter what you have done.
All have failed to honor God as God.
All have failed to live righteously according to God’s standard.
All are under the sentence of death.
Receive the free gift of righteousness.
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• The entrance to the path to perversion is failure to honor God as God.
It begins with a failure to give God his rightful place as LORD of your life.
Exchange the glory of God for a cheap facsimile – seek life elsewhere.
Exchange the truth of God for the lie of the enemy – Do our own thing.
Exchange God -- Deny him a place altogether.
Put God back in his rightful place in your life!
Honor God as God and give Him thanks.
Benediction
Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:4-6
