Consequences of Rejecting God

Transcript

GR 1409
11/08/09
Consequences of Rejecting God
Romans1:24-27
Gil Rugh

We're in Romans 1, we're just beginning looking into the main portion of the letter which begins in chapter 1 verse 18. A letter which is about the gospel, the gospel, literally the good news, the good news of God that He has given concerning His Son. There is a Savior, the Son of God who has left heaven, has come to this earth for the purpose of giving His life to pay the penalty for our sins so that Paul can write in Romans 1:16, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. The gospel is about Jesus Christ, the gospel is about our responsibility to believe in Jesus Christ and the work He has accomplished on the cross for us. The gospel is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes. But understand the overwhelming necessity of the gospel. The fact that it is the power of God required to bring about salvation, we must understand something about our true condition before God. And so the first portion of the letter to the Romans covering chapter 1 verse 18 through chapter 3 verse 20 is about sin, about our condemnation, the fact that we are under the judgment of God. We are the objects of the wrath of God. Our sin necessitates the judgment of a righteous God. Not a popular message. We ought not to delude ourselves into thinking it was any more popular in Paul's day than it is today. People never like to hear about their sin, people don't like to hear about judgment and condemnation and wrath when we talk about God. But you know this is God's good news. If we are to understand it we must understand what God has to say about it. The danger is we come even to church, to the word of God and we have decided what we want from it, what will be acceptable to us, what we are looking for. But we really come to the Word of God to find out what has God said, what does He say is important, what does He say we must know.

He began this first major section of the letter, verse 18, he declared clearly the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. So we need the gospel, which is the power of God for salvation, for the wrath of God has been revealed from heaven against our ungodly and unrighteous condition. Men suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. This is a tremendously important statement. They suppress the truth. It's not they don't know the truth. They know the truth, they choose to suppress it, to hold it down, to refuse to acknowledge it, recognize it. How do they know the truth? The creation reveals it. God has created everything and this creation reveals Him. Verse 20, since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power, His divine nature have been clearly seen. They are seen everywhere by everyone in what we call general revelation because it is generally available to everyone. No matter where you are in the world you ........... Look around, you're in the creation, you see the manifestation of God's invisible attributes, His eternal power, divine nature. So they are without excuse. And we noted that statement, they are without excuse, ties back to the end of verse 18. They suppress the truth, they are without excuse. No one will ever be able to say, when they stand before their judge, I didn't know. I didn't know you were the sovereign eternal God, I didn't know you were the God of all power, I didn't know you were the God of great glory that had to be worshiped. There will be no one who can say that. And we noted in light of this there are no true atheists in the world. There are people who declare themselves to be atheists, but they are only people suppressing the truth and refusing to acknowledge what they know is truth.

We're told in verse 21, even though they knew God. How did they know God? The context here, it's through His creation. Again, there are no exceptions. They knew God but their response was to not honor Him as God or give thanks. So that results in their becoming futile in their speculation, empty in their reasoning, darkened in their foolish heart. So now their ability to sort things out......... They live in darkness. This is the problem with what we call evidential apologetics, the defense of Christianity by presenting evidences that prove Christianity is true. You understand man knows there is a living God, he suppresses that truth, he refuses to honor God as God and the result is he can't think straight. So it's not that he needs more evidences, that he needs more proof. He is suppressing the knowledge of the God that he knows and that just leads to further darkness and confusion.

Important we understand this. Sometimes we think, if they just had more evidence, if they had more proof they would believe. As though they were neutral people out there just open to truth when they came in contact with it. That's not the case.

Verse 22, they profess to be wise, but they became fools. And verse 23, they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man, bird, four-footed animals, crawling creatures. They turned and instead of worshiping the living God who had made Himself known, the One that they knew to be the living God, they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God, the invisible God. And they made their own gods, an image in the form of man, birds, animals. They worshiped the creation instead of the Creator, we'll be told down in verse 25. That word exchanged, you might want to mark that. It's the first of three uses that we're going to see here in the verses we're going to look at. They exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God through the worship of creation.

So God revealed Himself, everyone knows Him through the revelation of creation. But everyone suppresses and holds down that knowledge and refuses to acknowledge Him as God, worship and serve Him as God. So they exchanged the truth they have regarding God, the God who rules, and they replace the true and living God with a God of their own liking, which is the worshiping of creation.

This has consequences. These verses explain to us as clearly as possible what is wrong in our depraved, vile world. The decadence of the world, the sexual depravity of the world is a manifestation of a world living under the judgment of God, living out their willful rebellion against God.

So verse 24 says therefore, this connects to what he has said in the preceding verses, particularly concluding they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for images of the creation. They suppress the knowledge of God. Therefore God gave them over. Three times that will be said—verse 24; verse 26, for this reason God gave them over; verse 28, God gave them over. Now that expression God gave them over ties back to verse 18, for the wrath of God is being revealed presently from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. How is His wrath being revealed? Verse 24, God gave them over because they refused to acknowledge Him. They've determined to worship the creation, not the Creator. Therefore God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity. God's wrath is being revealed in man's being consumed by his own sinful passions. Now note here, God does not cause us to sin, but God in judgment has turned man over to his sin.

Turn over to James 1:13, 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 gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. So God never Himself is enticed to sin and He never leads anyone else to sin. That comes from our own lust.

So what is happening? Come back to Romans 1. When it says in verse 24, God gave them over to impurity; verse 26, God gave them over to degrading passions; verse 28, God gave them over to a depraved mind. The picture is used by a number, and it's one that come to mind when you think about a passage like this, is the judicial action. God is the judge and He is acting on the basis of what has been done. It's like a judge sentencing a person to prison. You know we have the little rhyme, you do the crime, you do the time. Sometimes you'll see on a program, they'll be interviewing someone in prison and they'll say, I did the crime, I'm doing the time. A judge sentenced him but he is not in prison because of the judge, he's in prison because of the crime he committed. God is the judge here. He's not causing them to sin, but He's passing sentence for their rejection of Him. He turns them over to their selfish desires. They are unwilling to acknowledge Him, they will not worship and serve Him. So in judgment He turns them over to their sinful, selfish desires and passions. That's His judgment.

So when you read verse 18 of chapter 1, the wrath of God is being revealed form heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, that wrath is being revealed in God's turning men over to their sinful passions in verses 24ff. Verses 19-23 have explained what they have done that brings the wrath of God. Now we see the carry through on that. Very important that we understand this. We have a lot of talk about homosexuality going on today and debates over homosexual marriage and churches get involved in it. Let it be clear, we are going to see as we look into these verses, homosexuality is sin. It's not the only sin, there is a whole list of them that we'll be going through before we are done with this chapter. But it is sin. It's an offense against a holy God, it is a violation of what the God who created us intends for us. You understand homosexuality is not the basic problem, it's the rejection of the living God that is the issue. Churches get all caught up in the crusade against trying to stem the tide of homosexuality and the defilement of marriage and all of that. But you understand that's not man's problem, that's not our country's problem, that's not the issue really. That's a manifestation of the wrath of God being poured out on those who have rejected Him. There is the problem. They suppress the truth in unrighteousness, even though they knew God, verse 21, they did not honor Him as God nor give thanks. Verse 23, they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the worship of the creation. Therefore, God gave them over in judgment in the lusts of their heart. They really will not acknowledge Him as God. So He turns them over to their own lustful hearts. That's their standard. They profess themselves to be wise according to verse 22, even though they became fools. They will not acknowledge Him. Man is convinced he is wise, he is sovereign. So they are turned over in the lust of their hearts. They have rejected the living God. You understand that's the foundation for what is happening here.

Therefore begins verse 24. If you haven't read and understood verses 18-23, what does the therefore mean. We're talking about those who have rejected the knowledge of God, have rejected the God that they knew and refused to acknowledge Him. Therefore God gave them over in the lust of their heart to impurity. Impurity, a word that is used a number of times through the New Testament in connection with sexual immorality. And that's its context here as well. Impurity is the sexual behavior that is contrary to the will of God. Any sex outside of marriage is contrary to the will of God and is an impure activity, it is a defiling activity, it is a degrading activity. Here the judgment of God is poured out, now man pursues the lust of his heart and it leads to impurity, sexual immorality.

Now let me note here before we get any further. You see the connection, keep repeating this. But there is so much confusion, even in the church. The issue is those who reject God come under the judgment of God, those under the judgment of God are now controlled and ruled by their own passions. And that will produce all kinds of impurity and sexual immorality. But you see the connection, it's the rejection of God that is the issue. We say, this is theology and this is practice. The practice is the result of the theology. I often say to you, bad theology always catches up to you. The rejection of God leads to all kinds of sexual immorality and the grossest most vile kind of behavior. That's what's going to be described here.

To impurity, so that their bodies might be dishonored among them. Sexual immorality is a debasing activity, it dishonors the bodies of those who are using their bodies for sexual immorality. It brings disgrace, dishonor as they pursue impurity.

Now he's going to give an example of this, but first he's going to remind us of what the real problem is. Note verse 25, for they exchange the truth of God for a lie. Wait a minute, that's the same thing he told us in verse 23. There is our second use of exchange. Verse 23, they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and so on; verse 25, for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie. What's the truth of God? Verse 20, that He is the sovereign God with all power, He created everything. He's the God of all majesty and glory that must be worshiped and served. That truth that they knew that they suppress, they exchange it for a lie. That's the same thing as exchanging the glory of the incorruptible God in verse 23. They worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator, the Creator who is blessed forever, amen. So you see he keeps bringing us back so that we understand what the root problem is. It's the rejection of God and the replacing of God with their own gods. They replaced the truth of God, they exchanged the truth of God for a lie. The truth of God, about God that He had made known. They knew God as the creator, His invisible attributes, as we looked at in our study of the earlier verses, have been revealed in creation. That's the truth of God. They have replaced it with a lie that the true God didn't create everything, that He's not sovereign over all, I don't have to worship Him, I don't have to serve Him. I worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator. What do you mean? I don't have an idol in my house, I never worship idols. But we didn't worship the true and living God, we worshiped ourselves in one form or another, our pride. We have our own false worship systems, whether they are churches or whether they are other religions. We have created all those things. All a replacement for God.

You see we come back to the basic issue. They came under the judgment of God, verse 24, He turned them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity so their bodies would be dishonored among them. Because keep in mind they have rejected the living God, they have suppressed the truth concerning Him, they knew Him but they would not honor Him as God. So then having repeated that for us again he's ready to carry on with the moral consequences.

Before we go on to that turn back to I Thessalonians 1. We're not doing many verses outside of Romans 1 because Romans 1 is complete enough in itself. But you have a contrast that parallels what we're saying in Romans 1 in I Thessalonians. In I Thessalonians 1 Paul is commending the Thessalonians for the clarity of their testimony as believers in Jesus Christ and that the awareness of their faith in Christ has spread to many places. So Paul says, I go someplace, I don't have to tell them that the people in Thessalonica, many of those have believed in Christ, because they have already heard. Verse 9, for they themselves report about us, what kind of reception we had with you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God. So you see we have a pattern here. Man rejects God, suppresses the knowledge of God, exchanges the worship of God for the worship of idols. But when he comes to believe in the gospel, the power of God brings salvation to that person, they turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God. So you see what happens. They are turned back from the false worship to the worship of the God that they had rejected. Now that's what salvation does, it brings a change in life. I do not believe a person gets saved when they claim to have believed the gospel and then continue on in their unbiblical religion. This is just a little speed bump in the road I slowed up for, but I believed in Christ, bump, but I just keep on. No, you turned. Remember the Thessalonians, that became known everywhere, the transformation. You know when the power of God comes into a life and that life is truly impacted in a saving way by the power of God, that life is changed. The idea that a person is saved by the awesome power of God and life is totally made new, but nothing changes is not a biblical salvation. It's a counterfeit of the devil to give people a false security. They turned to God from idols to serve a living God.

Come back to Romans 1. This is the problem in verse 25, they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served, worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator. The two go together. And who you worship is demonstrated in who you serve.

All right, with that as a foundation. So we bracket verses 24, the judgment of God with verse 23 and verse 25 to lay again the foundation. Now verse 26, for this reason. Well verse 24 started out therefore, God gave them over, in light of what they had done, verse 23 and preceding. Then verse 25, they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator. Verse 26, for this reason God gave them over to degrading passions. We get this fixed in our minds, what is the problem. The problem is man's rejection of God. That's the problem. Refusal to acknowledge Him as God, bow and worship Him as the living God. So I do that, but I don't know what I think about Jesus Christ. No, Jesus said that if you worship the Father you worship the Son, if you love the Father you love the Son. If you obey the words of the Father you obey the words of the Son. They are inseparably joined together. The only true worship of the true and living God, it's the worship that is offered to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. The truth is revealed in creation, we've already been through that, if you weren't here for the previous study. The revelation in creation reveals that every person responds negatively to the revelation God has given of Himself and suppresses that knowledge. That's enough to reveal him as a guilty sinner. You need additional special revelation concerning the finished work of Christ, the good news of God to experience God's salvation from your guilt and condemnation.

Verse 26, for this reason God gave them over to degrading passions. Verse 24 was to impurity. Talking about the same thing. Degrading passions, passions which bring dishonor, disgrace. Then he's going to give a series of examples, the first example and the most extensive is homosexuality. We just had some elections and votes done and in one of our states they were voting on whether to legalize and recognize homosexual marriages. And great controversy and discussion on it. You understand that's not really the problem, that's a manifestation of the problem, a manifestation of men and women under the judgment of God, under the wrath of God. The real problem is they have rejected the living God. They can stop practicing homosexuality and still be under the wrath of God. We'll see that as we move along. But we don't want to misunderstand, it's not just homosexuals who are under the wrath of God, but that is one clear manifestation of being under the wrath of God and it's selected first and most fully because it is so clearly a manifestation of our rejection of God as Creator and His purposes for us in the creation.

Verse 26, for their women exchange, that's the third use of that word exchange. Verse 23, the exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God; verse 25, they exchange the truth of God; verse 26, their women exchange the natural. They have rejected the God who created all things. In doing so they have rejected the purposes and plans of the Creator for His creation. That's the follow through. So sexual immorality along with other sins is simply a manifestation of fallen man, rejection of God and His sovereignty over His creation, His purposes for His creation, and the determination of men and women who have rejected God to fulfill their own selfish passions. They are lusts of their own heart. So their women exchange the natural function for that which is unnatural. There is no doubt about what is talked about in the context here. Natural refers to that which is in accordance with the purposes and plan of the Creator when He created us. Unnatural is that which is contrary to the intention of the God who created us. So the women exchange the natural function, the function that God intended for them when He created them as females, for that which is unnatural, which is contrary to His will. One commentator put it this way, the word translated natural and unnatural here denotes that order which is manifest in God's creation and which men have no excuse for failing to recognize and respect. Homosexuality is a further deterioration. All sex outside of marriage is sin. Homosexual activity is a further degradation because it takes the natural relationship between a man and a woman that God created so they could express themselves sexually within marriage. Now instead of abusing God's intention for sex to be limited to the marriage relationship, this not only carries the sexual relationship outside of marriage, it carries it to that which is outside the bounds of natural. No longer is it a woman with a man and a man with a woman, but now it is two women and two men. That's the same idea as crossing the bounds to the animal world. We've moved outside the bounds of what is natural. So it is selected here as a very clear evidence of the judgment of God upon those who pervert the natural. Women exchange the natural plan of God in His creation for the woman, for a function which is unnatural, which is contrary to God's plan as the Creator and the sovereign.

And you see what happens. In the arguments that go on today people talk about, I was born this way, I can't control these desires. You see this is what God says, He turned them over in the lust of their hearts. Where will that take them? When you reject Him that takes you to impurity, to that which is unnatural.

The men do the same thing. I don't know why he put the women first, the men second. He mentions the women, the end of verse 27 he mentions the men and he expands even more fully on what he says about the men's activities. In the same way, the men do the same thing. They commit the same kind of unnatural acts in their rebellion against the Creator. In the same way also the men abandon the natural function of the woman. You see that's what God planned, that a man would have a sexual relationship with a woman and a woman would have a sexual relationship with a man. That's what's natural. They abandon the natural and burned in their desire toward one another.

Turn over to I Corinthians 7, just a reminder. God's will is a natural function within the marriage relationship. He created male and female, brought them together as husband and wife and there they have the freedom and liberty to enjoy a sexual relationship. That's God's plan. Everything else is a manifestation of man's rejection of God, His sovereignty, His authority and His purposes in creation. Verse 1, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of immorality each man is to have his own wife, each woman is to have her own husband. So there is God's plan for sexual activity. You have a husband, you have a wife. The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, the husband does. Likewise the husband doesn't have authority over his own body but the wife does. This is the marriage relationship. As believers we want to be sure we are clear on this. Sex is beautiful in marriage. The wife is for the husband's pleasure, the husband is for the wife's pleasure. That's God's intention in marriage. We get the idea that sex is dirty. No, you're married, turn it loose, go at it, have fun. This is God's plan. Sex is beautiful in marriage. The world has defiled it, now we want to say it is dirty. No. We can't go into I Corinthians 7, you can get the studies we did on that.

Come over to Hebrews 13:4, marriage is to be held in honor among all. The marriage bed is to be undefiled. Why? For fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Anyone guilty of sex outside of marriage comes under the judgment of God. We're talking about homosexuality right now, but you understand God's plan is marriage. God's plan in marriage is a man and a woman.

Come back to Matthew 19. When the Pharisees came to test Christ and try to trap Him they asked him, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all? He answered them, verse 4, have you not read that He who created them. You see He goes back to the sovereign authority of the Creator, the God who has revealed Himself in creation. There is no excuse for not acknowledging this. They are without excuse. He who created them from the beginning made them male and female and said, for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. What God has joined together, let no man separate. You see we go back to the creation. What did the Creator intend? Well you read He created a male and a female. Is homosexuality within the plan of God? Absolutely not ever, never, period. He created them male and female. Then He joined them in a marriage relationship. That's God's intention. You go back and see what the Creator did. Everybody knows that. You look around the creation there are men and women, you look around all creation, the animal world, there are male and female. Understand God made a distinction. What is man constantly fighting to do? Break down the distinctions, make them the same, the unisex concept, there are no real distinctions between male and female. That's not sinful so a love relationship between two men and a love relationship between two women is just as good as between a man and a woman. They know better, that's why they are constantly fighting to get recognized, get acknowledged, be accepted, be ............ You understand they know the truth.

So our crusade is not against homosexuality, its sin, it's a rebellion against God. But that's not the basic problem. The basic problem is your refusal to acknowledge God as God and His sovereignty over you as part of His creation and your requirement to bow and worship and serve Him. What we do is try to get them to not practice homosexuality, but we haven't solved the problem. The problem is the rejection of God. You can quit practicing homosexuality and be under the judgment of God and go to an eternal hell. Doesn't solve the problem, it's not the basic issue. It's a manifestation of the real problem.

Come back to Romans 1. We think we find new stuff and there are people who talk about the depth of our love. You know what he says here in Romans 1? Verse 27, the men abandon the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another. That word burned, that's not the same word that is used in I Corinthians 7:9, it's better to marry than to burn. That word has an intensity to it, inflamed. These people are inflamed in their lust. Is it any wonder they say, I was born this way, I can't do anything else, I can't be anything else. You understand they are under the judgment of God. They are following the lust of their heart to impurity as though this intense desire of my heart means this is the way I am. You understand we're talking about sinful people who have rejected God. We are fallen beings. I watched an interview some time ago, they were interviewing a man in prison. He was a mass murderer. Did you ever have any bad feelings about it? No. Why did you do it? I had a desire to do it. Was it all right then? I mean, he had the desire, he did it. I mean, fallen man is fallen, we are in rebellion against God. That doesn't justify because I have a strong desire to do it, therefore it is right. And it's true. Some people give up certain sin, but that doesn't free them from the power of sin. Only the gospel frees them from the power of sin. We as believers don't want to imply that cleaning up their life .......... This is why it is a denial of the gospel to get involved in moral reform movements, to clean up society. They are movements that say you can do something to please God, when his whole point here is His gospel is the only thing that can bring salvation. That's how lost we are, we can't help ourselves. We are hopelessly consumed by our sin.

They burned, are inflamed in their desire toward one another. Men with men committing indecent acts. And receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. You know the Greeks and the Romans were very tolerant of homosexuality. Greeks were prone to magnify it as a higher form of love. It is said that 14 of the first 15 Roman emperors practiced homosexuality. We say, what has happened to our society. You understand this has been fallen man. This is not the only manifestation of sin, we're taking this piece by piece. There are many others to come. But this becomes so clear everyone can see it because it is a violation of the natural. So we find even unredeemed people are appalled at this practice and oppose it. That doesn't mean they are saved, that doesn't mean they are not under the judgment of God. So it's a clear manifestation of the violation of what is natural, and yet we have our society promoting it. You say, that's why we ought to be against it. But that's not the basic problem. That's why we have to keep coming back and reminding ourselves because it is so easy to get worked up over this subject. Homosexuality, what will happen to our homes, what will happen to our families. Well, what will happen to them?

You know where we are going in Romans, this first section. Come over to chapter 3 verse 9, what then, are we better than they? No not at all, for we have all charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. And verse 20 will conclude, because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight. If you try to keep the Mosaic Law which would forbid homosexuality and other sexual sins, you still couldn't become righteous before God. So we need to be clear when we talk to a homosexual, homosexuality is sin, it is a manifestation of your rebellion against God and God's judgment on you. But you understand that's not your basic problem. You could give up homosexuality and be no better off, you would still be under the judgment of God and on your way to an eternal hell. So we don't want to act like we're cleaning up our society, we're taking a stand, we're being known for truth. We need to tell people the answer is the gospel.

Turn over to 1Corinthians 6. You know we easily slide and we want to stand for biblical truth so we pick out certain sins that we're going to overtly oppose and we act like if we clean up our society and get behind this bill and that action. You understand the gospel is God's good news. You can do nothing to help yourself, you can do nothing to clean your life up. Will your life be better if you don't get drunk all the time? I think it will be. Will your life be better if you're not spaced out on drugs all the time? Yes. Would it be better if you didn't practice homosexuality and you were faithful in a marriage? Yes. Will it make you more acceptable before God? No. I mean, can man make himself acceptable before God by his own works? Can man clean up his life in such a way that will make himself more acceptable to God? Would that not be a denial of the gospel? If you can do that, who needs the gospel? Clean up your life. There are many self-help programs that will help you overcome. People go to Alcoholics Anonymous and say now I quite drinking, I'm not a drunk anymore, my life is better. But you understand you are lost and on your way to hell. You're just a non-drunk under the judgment of God and on your way to hell. I never was a drunk. I was under the judgment of God and lost and on my way to an eternal hell. I never practiced homosexuality. I was under the judgment of God and lost and on my way to an eternal hell. This idea that somehow we clean up things and God will be happier. We are under the wrath of God. It's not about making Him happy. He is so sad and if we did differently He would be happy. That's not what the scripture says. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven.

What's the solution? I Corinthians 6:9, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you. Here is the power of the gospel. But you were washed, cleansed from the defilement of sin, the degradation, the dirtiness of sin, the defilement. You were sanctified, set apart by God for Himself. You were justified, declared righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God. There is God's solution to sin. It's not stop practicing that sin, its place your faith in the good news that God has given concerning His Son. That will involve a turning from sin. Does that mean now I never have any desire to sin? No, because they are still there, but now I am set free, now I worship and serve the living God. And by the power of His Spirit I can not be involved in what I was. I'm a new person, I'm a new man.

That's what he's talking about as you come back to Romans 1. But we have to understand before he gets to unfolding the gospel, we keep jumping ahead, but we won't get to this until we get to chapter 3 verse 21 because we have a hard time with grappling with the sin, understanding and being convinced there are going to be no exceptions here. We can't stop here, we're stopping now with homosexuality, but the rest of us who haven't practiced homosexuality think we are not guilty, we go away and say, I always thought they were dirty people. That's so vile, I could never understand why people could do that. But we'll get to you, you come back. We'll get to me, I'll come back. Because all this is, is a clear example of how men and women when they reject the God who has revealed Himself are turned over in the judgment of God to their own passions of heart, degrade themselves and continue to deny that which is natural and recognized to be true. And degrading passions lead to further degradation.

This is man in sin, all of us. That's why there is no hope but the power of the gospel. But you know what? That's all the hope we need because as we saw back in verse 16, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Some of you struggle with sin, we all do to one degree or another. Some of the struggle is ongoing for some of you because you've never been saved. You grew up in a Christian church, you grew up in a Bible-believing church, you have Christian parents and yet life doesn't come together and I'm just consumed by my passions and ruled by my passions and I just can't seem to ........... You're right, you can't, you won't. You have to believe the gospel. How do you explain it? You believe in Christ and you'll be washed and made clean. Certain sins, you just feel dirty, some say, I feel dirty. You are morally dirty. In the sight of a holy God you are unrighteous, unclean. But He'll wash you clean, He'll set you apart for Himself and He provides for you His righteousness.

That's what we're talking about here. It's awful, a terrible picture, man under the judgment of God as a result of rejecting God. But the hope is the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Let's pray together. Father, as we move into this section the ugliness becomes more clear. We cannot separate our theology and the way we live. The result of men rejecting you, men live in moral filth, they degrade themselves, they destroy themselves, they are doomed to ruin in this life and in the life to come. They live under the wrath of God and there is nothing to look forward to but the full manifestation of your wrath in eternal judgment. Lord, what an awesome salvation we have, what a message of truly good news you have given, that you will wash us clean from all defilement, you'll set us apart for yourself to belong to you. You will provide for us your righteousness all in your Son, Jesus Christ, all through faith in Him alone. Trying to clean up our lives is not an answer, it's an impossibility. But turning from our sin to you as our God and placing our faith in your provision, that solves everything. We praise you for the gospel. In Jesus' name, amen.