Together they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. For those of you across the hall, that was Romans 3, verse 10 and through 12. Right. We can't separate from the course of the argument that he's making in the book. So Paul is here diagnosing the great common problem of all people.
This problem started in the garden and it proceeds in various form and varying degree to this day. Certainly at times in progressive ways. What I'm pressing hard to get us to see is that you and I need this text as much as anyone else.
It's not just a text for the other. We each and every one of us are found here before any of us encountered the saving power of the gospel. We were identified in some way in this text.
We should not make the tragic mistake of thinking that this text only describes other people. It does do that, but it also describes us apart from the power of the gospel.
This text is used again and again and again as a diagnostic tool to look at the culture around us. And it does that for us, but it also diagnoses our hearts.
If we treat it in that other way, we will entirely miss what Paul wants to lead our hearts to.
That said, we see in this text the resolute rejection of God.
Verse 25, the first part says,
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God.
Paul here is repeating in this text some things that he said in our previous text, which began in verse 18.
You recall the wrath of God being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and righteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
And he doesn't leave us wondering what that truth is.
He says in verse 19 that what could be known about God has been made plain to them in the creation.
Namely, verse 20, his eternal power and divine nature.
That there is in fact a creator who has the right to rule over his creation.
Later in the letter, we're going to see clearly that the law of God is written on the conscience of man.
Verse 21 says,
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him.
Rather, they rejected him.
Resolutely, they set themselves against him.
In verse 23,
And exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images.
Resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
And this idolatry takes on many forms and leads to much unrighteousness.
Paul does not leave us able to say,
Well, I don't bow my knees to any graven images, so I must be okay.
No, he goes on to give us a list of sins that result from this kind of idolatry.
From this resolute rejection of God.
He leaves us unable to wiggle out of it at all.
Thomas Adams, who was a late 16th, early 17th century English Puritan, said,
That which a man spits against heaven shall fall back on his own face.
And so let's look at some of that.
What results there because of the resolute rejection of God?
And this is the second point.
The wrath of moral insanity.
You may recall us speaking briefly about the phrase found in verse 18.
For the wrath of God is revealed.
Which time I told you that our translations did well not to say will be revealed, although it will.
But the particular tense of this verb, it rightly says is revealed or is being revealed.
God's wrath is presently being revealed against the rejection of him in a startling way.
Paul says three times in today's text.
You'll see it in verse 24, verse 26, and verse 28.
God gave them up.
I hope that this phrase strikes fear in you.
It doesn't mean one who finds himself in Christ, accepted in the beloved before God.
The idea that God would give me up to myself is frightening.
Paul was saying that God abandoned them to their ways.
God says to a people who reject him.
OK, then go your own way.
And this is a form of judgment to give us over to our own moral relativism, which always concludes in a moral insanity.
Because, my friends, we are not qualified to call the shots.
If you think that you have the ability to set the direction for your life, you need a massive dose of humility.
I might just ask the question, how's that going for you so far?
Life working out the way it hoped that it would?
We're not qualified for the task.
Our creator, although, is.
And he's spoken a good word, not a burdensome word, a good word that we would obey it.
We are creation.
We need the creator.
Hierarchy, rightly recognized and applied, is a glorious gift to us.
Here, Paul says, God gave them up.
He allows the futile minds and foolish hearts of man to conceive and create all sorts of evil.
He begins his list, and I believe spends a bit more time at the beginning of his list,
with a sin that is so particularly contrary to creation order.
I think he starts here because the sin of homosexuality is an obvious rejection of God's design for humanity,
which, to be clear, was one man and one woman in lifelong monogamy,
and all variations, I'll repeat, all variations of this created design are rejections of God.
I think he starts here because it's just such a simple, it's an easy example of the rejection of God.
For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions.
For women exchanged natural relations for those contrary to nature,
and men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another.
Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error.
But let's be careful to note that Paul's list does not end there.
He goes on.
Again, avoid the temptation to think that this text is merely a text for some other out there.
Do not become his longest, which drives hard his point.
We need the saving power of the gospel.
Oh, that God would rescue us from our moral insanity.
Verse 28 says,
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God,
God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
God gave them up to thinking that they knew best for themselves,
that we might possibly know best for ourselves.
He let them do it.
And then he rattles off a list.
And I'm not one to hyperanalyze these types of lists.
I think there's some danger in that.
I do believe that he's being led by the Spirit to jot these things down.
I don't think it's just random.
But I also think we can overthink these types of things.
He's pressing this all-encompassing rejection,
this resolute rejection of God through this.
But it's interestingly broken into three sections.
Now, you can look, if you have an ESV like me, at the punctuation.
But our commas and our periods did not appear in the original text.
And so these have been added for readability.
And in this case, for us to more readily see the pattern.
But even without the punctuation, notice the phrases.
They were filled.
They are full of.
And they are.
These are all found in verse 29.
They were filled.
They are full of.
And they are.
Now, again, I don't think that there's some kind of hyperanalyzation that needs to go on about that categorically.
The point I want to press is that it's an all-encompassing thing.
If you resolutely reject God himself,
and you're given over to this kind of moral insanity,
it defines who you are.
You're filled with, full of, and you are.
You identify in these ways.
So let's look at some of them together.
Let's not just glance over them.
Also, many of them are very self-explanatory.
But verse 29 begins,
They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.
All manner of unrighteousness and evil.
This is an all-encompassing phrase and word.
By all rights, Paul could have stopped at that point and moved on beyond it.
But he feels compelled.
He believes it's important to give us examples of this.
We're so quick to justify our own sin, to write it off,
to not put it categorically in this type of rejection of God,
this type of moral insanity.
So he doesn't let any of us off the hook here.
Covetousness, which is greedy, exploitive, consuming ambition.
Malice, which is a wickedness aimed at another.
They're full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness.
That's that next section.
They are full of, filled with the desire for other people's things.
To the degree that they might actually murder,
or as Jesus says, have hatred in our hearts toward another,
which is murder in the heart.
Full of strife, conflict, fighting.
Deceit, which is treachery for personal gain.
Maliciousness, which is a character that intends to do harm.
You might still want to wiggle a little,
well, I don't know that I'm all that bad.
In verse 29 he says,
they are gossips, slanders.
He goes big view again.
Haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil,
disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
To gossip is to speak about others with unconfirmed information.
To slander is to speak something false,
to damage another's reputation.
And I can just about guarantee you,
if you have liked or shared something on social media
this past couple of years,
you're guilty of both of these sins.
Insolent, haters of God.
Insolentness is an arrogant rudeness.
Haughtiness is arrogant disdain for others.
Boastfulness is arrogant bragging.
Inventors of evil,
coming up with new ways to sin against God.
Children,
Paul inserts here to not let you off the hook,
disobedient to parents.
foolish,
faithless,
heartless,
ruthless.
None of us are wiggling out of this.
I wore a cardigan today instead of a jacket
to tell you how wicked you are.
Verse 32 says,
though they know God's righteous decree
that those who practice such things deserve to die.
And the Old Testament commanded death
specifically for many of these things.
I think Paul here has a higher view than that.
He's not talking just to those who know the Old Testament,
know the law,
but to Gentiles as well.
He's going to continue to make this case
on into chapter 2 and to 3.
I think what he's drawing back to here
is to verse 20.
God's eternal power and divine nature
because he says at the end of verse 20,
so they are without excuse.
They know that they're rebels against God.
They have resolutely rejected him
and therefore deserve the penalty due
an enemy of a king.
And yet they do them anyway.
Wholeheartedly participate
in this kind of sin.
And they not only do them,
but give approval to those
who practice them.
To justify your own sin is evil,
but here we see a digression
into the justification of others' sin as well.
To argue for the case
that people can live their life
however they might like.
Martin Luther,
this is the quote on your bulletin this morning,
once said,
iniquity consists in this,
that you fail to live up
to what you are bound to do
and do instead what seems right to you,
while uprightness, by contrast,
consists in this,
that you do whatever you ought to do
regardless of what seems right to you.
Beloved, we need to recognize
that we are all at times
guilty of letting our emotions
lead the charge.
Letting our emotions
define the truth.
This is the mantra of our day.
If it feels right,
then it must be right.
And if it feels wrong,
then it must be wrong.
And why is this the case?
It's because of the
resolute rejection of God.
What are we left with
if we reject God
and His good order
and design in the world?
With ourselves.
And the moral insanity
that ensues.
You must then assume
that you're the starting point
for what is good
and true
and beautiful.
And you are not.
You're not qualified
for the task.
And so you do
what feels good to you
or you don't do
what feels bad to you
rather than asking the question,
what should I do?
And recognizing that you
cannot be the source
of such information.
God has condescended
to become an author.
The maker of heaven
and earth
has spoken to us
for our good.
Never miss it.
For our great good.
His commands are good
for us.
Even when they don't feel good,
they are good
for us.
I used to sit
at the dinner table
as a child,
stubborn as I could be
to not eat
my vegetables.
They were good for me.
They didn't feel good
for me.
My mom would
threaten,
there's people in the world
who would love
to have this food
and I would say,
box it up
and ship it to them.
On a couple of occasions,
I sat until bedtime.
That's how stubborn
I was
as a child.
Thinking I knew best.
I just should have
ate the vegetables, right?
I just should have
ate them
and moved on.
There's a higher
and a greater
good for us
and it is defined
not by us
but by our God.
He tells us.
He shows us
lovingly,
compassionately
how it is
that we
should walk.
Now,
a brief but related
aside.
I think it deserves
some of our attention
particularly because
of the place
in which
we live.
We have
in our very own
backyard
not far
south of us
a pastor
who has
great influence.
And it is always
with a heavy heart
that I name names
but I think
we ought to be
cautioned
and we ought to be
prayerful
about Andy Stanley.
We've watched
for some time
a slow digression
that seems to have
picked up
some speed.
So some of you
may know
a little bit about
a conference
that was held
this year.
I believe it was
in May.
It was put on
by their church.
The 2022
Drive Conference
in which he said
some rather
scathing
things.
So I want to
read to you
just a bit.
This was from
an article
written by
Denny Burke
in World Magazine
a publication
I would commend
to you.
Denny says this
and I quote
Stanley contends
that churches
must adapt
and learn
how to include
gay people
in the life
of the church.
After all
we should be
in awe
of the self-sacrifice
of gay people
whose prayers
God did not answer
and yet who still
love God
in spite
of the clobber
verses
from the Bible
that condemn
homosexuality.
That's
Andy's
term
clobber
verses
one of them
Romans chapter 1
verse 26
and 27.
Now to be fair
to Andy
that kind of
attitude
he may be
speaking about
is the kind of
thing I want
to condemn
as well
where we don't
see ourselves
in the text.
It's always
about another.
It's always
about pointing
our finger
someplace else.
It's always
done
self-righteously.
We're all
in the text
everybody.
We're all
in the text.
Christians
have a lot
to learn
from gay
men and
women
quote
says Stanley
who love
Jesus
that much
and who
want to
worship
with us
end quote.
If churches
want to have
a future
then they
must be
more like
Jesus
who
when ministering
to sinners
never
quote
started
with
theology
but
started
with
the
people
in
front
of
him.
Furthermore
Stanley
argues
that
quote
if your
theology
gets in
the way
of
ministry
like
if
there's
somebody
you
can't
minister
to
because
of
your
theology
you
have
the
wrong
theology.
Stanley's
message
comes across
as a
straightforwardly
affirming
position
on
homosexuality
in
the
church.
He
valorizes
the faith
of
homosexuals
as head
and shoulders
above the
faith
of
straight
Christians.
He
says
quote
the
men
and
women
I
know
who
are
gay
their
faith
and
their
confidence
in
God
dwarfs
mine.
So
not only
is there
room
there's
plenty
of
room
for
them
in
the
church.
Now
hear me
very
carefully
there
is
always
a
place
for
people
who
wrestle
with
sin
to
come
and
gather
with
God's
people
to
hear
the
truth
of
God
proclaimed
boldness
and
with
an
invitation
to
flee
to
Christ.
There's
always
room
for
that.
There's
never
room
to
call
someone
who
identifies
as
their
sin
a
Christian.
If I
were to
go around
and say
I'm a
slandering
Christian
you would
say
that is
the
dumbest
thing
I've
ever
heard.
Have
I
at
times
spoken
something
untrue
about
somebody
in
order
to
damage
their
reputation
to
my
shame
I
have
which
is
the
thing
I
should
repent
of
and
flee
to
Christ
for
his
righteousness
as a
result.
This
kind
of
language
is
anti
gospel.
It
doesn't
say
that
people
are
set
free
from
their
sin
that
they
might
walk
in
the
truth
that
Jesus
Christ
perfectly
fulfilled
the
righteousness
that's
demanded
of
God
and
we
can
have
our
righteousness
found
in
him
and
therefore
put
off
these
sins
it
does
quite
the
opposite.
It's
devoid
of the
bad
news
and
beloved
we
will
never
grasp
the
good
news
as
we
should
if
we
don't
first
understand
the
bad
news.
Verse
18
the
wrath
of
God
is
revealed
from
heaven
against
all
ungodliness
and
unrighteousness
of men
who
by
their
unrighteousness
suppress
the
truth.
This
is
moral
insanity.
God
defines
what is
good
and
best
regardless
of how
we
feel
and if
we are
breakers
of God's
commands
which
we
are
it
is
here
in
this
text
every
single
one
of
us
have
broken
God's
law
we
have
rejected
God
as
king
then
we
have
to
have
a
solution
we
must
have
some
way
of
fixing
this
grand
problem
which is
why I'm
very pleased
to come to the
third point
I'm glad
that we
get to
end
here
before
we
talk
about
the
glorious
solution
of the
gospel
people
so
desperately
need
to
hear
let me
just
say
one
last
thing
about
Andy
Stanley
I
don't
know
what
to
do
with
a
man
who
teaches
things
falsely
other
than
to
call
him
a
false
teacher
and
we
do
well
to
warn
people
away
from
such
men
the
gospel
matters
too
much
the
souls
of
people
matter
too
much
for
them
to
be
deluded
away
from
their
sin
and
the
rescue
that
is
found
in
the
cross
of
Christ
so
thirdly
the
glorious
solution
of the
gospel
we
have
to
step
outside
the
text
just
a
bit
for
this
one
but
not
far
and
we
can
start
with
the
last
part
of
verse
25
God
gives
them
up
verse
24
in
the
lust
of
their
heart
to
impurity
to
the
dishonoring
of
their
bodies
among
themselves
because
they
exchanged
the
truth
about
God
for
a
lie
and
worshiped
and
served
the
creature
rather
than
the
creator
who
was
blessed
forever
!
reading
John
MacArthur's
commentary
he said
perhaps
Paul
in talking
about all
of this
vileness
just needed
to pick
his head
up for air
for a
moment
I think
even more
than that
I think
that Paul
in the midst
of writing
about such
betrayal
against God
does not
lose sight
of the fact
that regardless
of how
humanity
regards
God
he is
blessed
forever
whether
or not
our
society
rejects
God
as
God
he
remains
God
God's
worth
is not
changed
by our
recognition
of his
worth
and praise
God
that he
works
for us
in spite
of us
we have
great reason
to praise
God
just as
Paul did
because
he has
made a
way
for us
to be
delivered
from
our
rejection
of
him
this
is
why
Paul
says
he's
not
ashamed
of
the
gospel
for
it
is
the
power
of
God
for
salvation
to
everyone
who
believes
this
righteousness
he talks
about
in
verse
17
the
righteousness
of
God
Luther
called
it
the
alien
righteousness
that
we
need
a
righteousness
that
needs
to be
granted
to
us
that
was
fulfilled
!
in
Christ
we
desperately
need
and it
is
this
gospel
message
this
good
news
that
tells
us
that
by
faith
in
Christ
it's
ours
it's
granted
to
us
and
all we
have to
do
is
repent
and
believe
all we
have to
do
is
turn
our
minds
away
from
sin
to
recognize
that
it
is
a
rejection
of
the
most
high
God
to
recognize
that
he
has
a
more
excellent
way
to
recognize
that
there
is
a
just
condemnation
for
our
sin
and
that
we
would
want
to
be
rescued
from
such
wrath
to
flee
to
Christ
his
completed
work
his
once
for
all
sacrifice
on
our
behalf
many
weeks
ago
as we
spent
our
first
week
on
verses
18
through
23
I
stated
this
I
copied
And
pasted
this
out of
my
notes
at
the
conclusion
of our
study
of this
chapter
you
ought
to
either
feel
a
great
condemnation
for
your
lost
state
and
I
pray
will
flee
from
the
wrath
to
come
to
the
mercy
of
Christ
or
you
ought
to
feel
an
abundant
overflowing
gratefulness
having
already
received
Christ's
mercy
in the
salvation
of your
soul
so join
me as
I
pray
to
that
end
to