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About Jesus Steve Sweetman The
Road To Wrath Romans
1:18 states, "the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven
against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth
…" Theologians
have termed this present age in which we live as the "age of God's
grace". Although
God's grace is available for us to step into upon repentance and trust
in Him, He has not laid aside His standards of justice.
That's why we still must repent of our sin.
In Romans 1:18 and following, Paul says that men suppress the
truth that God is the Creator of all things.
Such suppression of truth leads men to do as they please because
they think they have no greater authority than themselves.
For this reason, even in the age of grace, God's wrath can be
directed towards those He considers as wicked.
Paul
points out a two step progression on the road to wrath.
The first step is our "suppression" of the truth that
God is Creator of all things. Paul
says in verse 18 that men knew God was Creator but now hide this fact. In
verse 21 he says that we "knew God" but now "we don't
glorify Him as God". In
verse 25 he states, "they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, …
and serve created things rather than the Creator".
Finally, in verse 28 he says that men no longer "think it is
worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God".
That should hit home with us who live in the western world
because that is exactly what we have done.
Much
of our society in the west has been built on the acknowledgment that the
God of the Bible created all things and therefore we are ultimately
subject to Him. Thanks to
Charles Darwin, and liberal theologians of the 1800's who removed all
supernatural content from the Bible, the west has slowly removed the
knowledge of God from life and society. We've exchanged the truth of
Creation for the lie of evolution. For
this reason, the second step towards wrath has taken place in the
western world. Because
men have not retained the knowledge of God as Creator as seen in verses
24, 26, and 28, God "gives men over" to the sinful lifestyle
they have chosen for themselves. Simply
put, God steps back from us, and with hands raised in resignation, says,
"if that's how you want to live, go ahead; just beware of the
consequences". Paul
speaks of one particular sin that God hands men over to after they have
rejected God as Creator. Verses
24 to 27 state this sin to be homosexuality.
I know it's not socially correct to point this out, but that's
what this passage states. I
merely repeat the Biblical stance on the issue.
At creation, God created male and female. (Genesis 1:27)
"For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother
and be united with his (female) wife, and they shall become one
flesh". (Genesis 2:4) Darwin,
liberal theologians, and others, began the slide away from retaining God
as Creator in our thinking in the 19th century.
This process continued in all areas of life in the 20th
century. In government, law,
education, finance, and the rest of life, we have progressively and
systematically removed the knowledge of God as Creator from our communal
consciousness. Paul was
right. The rise of the
homosexual life style follows the acceptance of the lie of evolution.
That seems quite evident to me.
From
the rise of the homosexual lifestyle other sins have become part of the
western experience. Paul
lists a few in verse 29. The
first two he mentions are, greed and depravity.
Was it really the falling house prices that caused this last
recession, or was it pure greed found in the depraved minds of those who
sat in their luxurious
financial office towers? Paul
adds more sins to this list. They
are; envy, murder, strife, deceitfulness, malice, gossip, slandering,
God hating, insolent, arrogance, boastfulness, disobedient to parents,
senselessness, (I find that one interesting) faithlessness,
heartlessness, and ruthlessness. I
think I can safely say that I recognize those trends in the western
world today.
Paul
ends Romans 1 with a very relevant statement. He
says, "they not only continue to do these things (above sins) but
also approve of those who practice them".
If that's not relevant, I don't know what is.
People have always committed the sins Paul lists, but now, we not
only commit these sins, we approve of them by passing laws that legalize
and encourage these sins. Of
course our society doesn't recognize such sins as homosexuality to be
sin. Why should they, when
they have not retained the knowledge of the Biblical God in their
thinking? So
what comes next? I simply
quote the verse I started with. "The
wrath of God is being revealed from heaven".
God has shut down nations and civilizations before.
I'm sure He's not afraid to do it again for those on the road to
wrath.
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