Romans 1:18-32
"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural one. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that so that they do what ought not to be done. They became filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." (NIV)
The apostle Paul is speaking to both sin in general, but more specifically to sexual immorality and homosexuality. There is something most disturbing about sexual sins that God seems to always put more emphasis on, he seems to dislike sexual sins more than other sins, why?
1 Corinthians 6:18
"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body." (NIV)
In the word of God, he tells us that our body is a temple (1 Cor 6:19) our bodies are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. All other sins, except sexual, are done outside of the body, which is not to say that God approves because he does not! What this says is that those other sins do not desecrate, or profane, or vandalize, his temple, our bodies. Sexual sin does do those things, and as a result God, by his divine, holy and eternal nature, must leave, he has to reject us.
The result is nothing short of catastrophic and tragic. We are then left to our own depravity and wickedness, without a guide, without a discerning heart or mind, and we rush head long into a darkness that is truly horror.
This is very self-evident in our society today in many ways and forms, it is very tragic, and we cannot seem to figure out why there is so much pain and suffering. Could it not be that we have rejected God? Could it not be that we have exchange the truth of God and replaced that truth which leads to life, with the lies of the world, which lead to death? This is a very complex and complicated time that we live in, all lines of morals and ethics have been blurred and skewed so that, that which is natural and right, true and just become wrong, and that which is wicked, perverse, immoral and evil become right. What is this if not satisfying the evil desires of the flesh, rationalizing, and justifying those desires?
God tells us that if we confess and repent of our sins, those done outside of the body and those we commit against our bodies, he is faithful and will forgive us of our sins. This is not a matter to take lightly, it is very serious.
Our lives, our time here on earth, is very short. We know not the hour or the day we will be called heaven ward, on that day we will give an account of our lives, we will be made accountable and be held responsible for how we lived, not according to the laws of men, but according to God's law which is above ours. Please take some time now to pray and to reflect on your life and how you have lived, in what ways are we living out God's plan? In what ways are we living a life that is contrary to his will for us? If we are living in any way that is contrary to the Word, contrary to the Holy Spirit, we need to confess and repent today, right now, not in an hour, not tomorrow, but right now. I encourage you to do this daily, that you may have life and live it to the full.
Father God, we are, in many ways, living lives that do not honor you. Lord I pray that we take time today, and everyday, to reflect on this reality and confess the ways in which we are living apart from you and your Spirit, that we would be brought into repentance that we may have life. Holy Spirit, help us to be humble so that we can do this, show us how to rely on you, to trust you more and more each day, that we would follow you not the world. In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I pray, Amen!
"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural one. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that so that they do what ought not to be done. They became filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." (NIV)
The apostle Paul is speaking to both sin in general, but more specifically to sexual immorality and homosexuality. There is something most disturbing about sexual sins that God seems to always put more emphasis on, he seems to dislike sexual sins more than other sins, why?
1 Corinthians 6:18
"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body." (NIV)
In the word of God, he tells us that our body is a temple (1 Cor 6:19) our bodies are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. All other sins, except sexual, are done outside of the body, which is not to say that God approves because he does not! What this says is that those other sins do not desecrate, or profane, or vandalize, his temple, our bodies. Sexual sin does do those things, and as a result God, by his divine, holy and eternal nature, must leave, he has to reject us.
The result is nothing short of catastrophic and tragic. We are then left to our own depravity and wickedness, without a guide, without a discerning heart or mind, and we rush head long into a darkness that is truly horror.
This is very self-evident in our society today in many ways and forms, it is very tragic, and we cannot seem to figure out why there is so much pain and suffering. Could it not be that we have rejected God? Could it not be that we have exchange the truth of God and replaced that truth which leads to life, with the lies of the world, which lead to death? This is a very complex and complicated time that we live in, all lines of morals and ethics have been blurred and skewed so that, that which is natural and right, true and just become wrong, and that which is wicked, perverse, immoral and evil become right. What is this if not satisfying the evil desires of the flesh, rationalizing, and justifying those desires?
God tells us that if we confess and repent of our sins, those done outside of the body and those we commit against our bodies, he is faithful and will forgive us of our sins. This is not a matter to take lightly, it is very serious.
Our lives, our time here on earth, is very short. We know not the hour or the day we will be called heaven ward, on that day we will give an account of our lives, we will be made accountable and be held responsible for how we lived, not according to the laws of men, but according to God's law which is above ours. Please take some time now to pray and to reflect on your life and how you have lived, in what ways are we living out God's plan? In what ways are we living a life that is contrary to his will for us? If we are living in any way that is contrary to the Word, contrary to the Holy Spirit, we need to confess and repent today, right now, not in an hour, not tomorrow, but right now. I encourage you to do this daily, that you may have life and live it to the full.
Father God, we are, in many ways, living lives that do not honor you. Lord I pray that we take time today, and everyday, to reflect on this reality and confess the ways in which we are living apart from you and your Spirit, that we would be brought into repentance that we may have life. Holy Spirit, help us to be humble so that we can do this, show us how to rely on you, to trust you more and more each day, that we would follow you not the world. In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I pray, Amen!
