“God’s Revelation; Man’s Rejection” Part 6
Romans 1:28-32
November 15, 2015
How many times in the past few months have you observed something culturally and asked a question something like, “How can that possibly be…what are they/is he thinking?…”
- I said that when I read some of the opinions that were espoused by our Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges this summer.
- I wondered that when Bruce Jenner was given the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs last year for his journey into transgenderism.
- I wondered that when I read Friday morning of an 8-year-old boy being charged with the murder of a one-year-old girl when the girl’s mother left six children age eight and under alone in a home while she was at a nightclub.
- I thought that when I read about Italian student Caterina Simonsen who posted a photo of herself on Facebook two years ago with the message, “I am 25 thanks to genuine research that includes experiments on animals.…Without research I would have been dead at nine…you have gifted me a future.” In response she received death threats and comments that suggested the world would be better off with her dead.
- Virtually every time I watch a political debate, see a news story on the presidential election, or hear a sound bite from a presidential candidate, I wonder the same thing, “Isn’t anyone thinking?”
- And we also can’t ignore the events in Paris this weekend either — apart from the issue of differing religions, just how can men be so inhumane and violent towards other men, particularly those whom they do not know? How does that happen?
What we are seeing on a regular basis — and in increasing measure — is the consequence of men’s rejection of God. Paul makes clear in Romans 1 that God has revealed Himself to mankind (v. 20), and rather than turning to God, man has rejected God and fashioned his own idols to worship (vv. 21-23). And in turn, God has judged man by turning man over to his sin. In essence God has said, “If it is sin that you want, then you shall have your sin…”
In Romans 1, Paul tells of three consequences of man’s rejection of God’s revelation:
- Man is turned over to sexual sin (vv. 24-25)
- Man is turned over to homosexual sin (vv. 26-27)
- Man is turned over to a depraved mind (vv. 28-32)
It is this last act of God’s condemnation that we will consider this morning. In vv. 28-32, Paul says —
When men reject God, God judges them with unthinking minds.
Puritan John Flavel wrote a book entitled The Sinfulness of Sin. Just how sinful is sin? How evil is evil? In these five verses we get four glimpses into the sinfulness of sin. Here Paul offers four pictures of how idolatrous unbelievers live who have rejected the revelation of God.
- How Men Reject God (v. 28a)
- How God Judges Man’s Rejection of Him (v. 28b)
- How Judged Men Live (vv. 29-31)
- They are full of evil (v. 29a)
- They are controlled by envy (v. 29b)
- They are characterized by sin (vv. 30-31)
- How Extensive Man’s Sin Is (v. 32)
- They know God’s death penalty
- They willfully sin despite their knowledge
- They joyfully encourage the sin of others
Download the rest of this sermon from Romans 1:28-32.
The audio will be posted on the GBC website later today.
Words of Grace 