By Pastor Greg
I begin this morning by reading from 2 Deceptions 9:7-12; the Law concerning dessert: “For we judge between the plate that is unclean and the plate that is clean, saying first, if the plate is clean, then you shall have dessert. But of the unclean plate, the laws are these: If you have eaten most of your meat, and two bites of your peas with each bite consisting of not less than three peas each, or in total six peas, eaten where I can see, and you have also eaten enough of your potatoes to fill two forks, both forkfuls eaten where I can see, then you shall have dessert. But if you eat a lesser number of peas, and yet you eat the potatoes, still you shall not have dessert; and if you eat the peas, yet leave the potatoes uneaten, you shall not have dessert, no, not even a small portion thereof. And if you try to deceive by moving the potatoes or peas around with a fork, that it may appear you have eaten what you have not, you will fall into iniquity. And I will know, and you shall have no dessert.”
Okay, as funny as this is, some people think this is how strict the Bible really is. They think the Bible is nothing but a long list of “thou shalt not’s”. Yes, there are a lot of commands found in the Bible, but it is important for the Christian to understand WHY God gave these commands in the first place. God gave the Old Testament Laws because He wanted His followers to be set apart and separate from the world. In effect, God was pointing to the world and telling His people “do not act like that”. “Instead”, says God, “this is how I want you to live”. In other words, God desires that we act and live according to His standards. This is what is called holiness; living a life that is different from the people of the world.
With that in mind, let’s read over what Paul has to say about worldly conduct in Romans 1:18-32. “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. 21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. 28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”
Paul paints an image of what humanity looks like when it turns its back to God. God did not make the people behave like this. These people made a choice, and their choice was to reject God and instead follow their own basic human nature. Paul has given us a snapshot of what humanity looks like when it refuses to be influenced by God; a humanity that has exchanged (see 1:25) the glorious life of righteousness for a life defined by wickedness. In other words, our true human nature is revealed by our sin.
Remember how I said Paul takes his readers from sin to salvation? Well, this is the sin part. It is necessary to paint this image of a life separated from God in order to demonstrate that a person needs God. Paul mentions these things so a person might fully realize that they are indeed separated by God when they observe any of these behaviors in their life. That’s why it’s important we don’t take one of these sinful behaviors and separate it from the rest. We dare not single out homosexuality from this list, nor should we remove it. It needs to be included, as does Pride, Gossip, Greed, Murder, or Idol Worship (now there’s a wake-up call for some Christians. Paul has included the Gossip in the same category as the Murderer or the Homosexual). But what Paul is trying to point out here is that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). He is attempting to get his readers to examine their own life and confess their sin. He is attempting to bring a person to repentance (Romans 2:4).
Paul is answering the question “Who needs God”. And the answer is, “Anyone who practices these things”. Of course, these sins are symptoms, not the disease. The disease is a heart turned against God. Paul is not asking the person who practices these things to stop doing them, although a Christian should. Paul is asking the person who practices these things to examine their heart. And if they would be honest with themselves they will probably find that they really don’t take God seriously, nor do they have a desire to live obedient to His commands. And for those who are tempted to believe there are grand sins and trivial sins, Paul points out that when the Gossip passes judgment against the Homosexual, the Gossip, in reality, is condemning their self; admitting that there is a certain way of living that leads to death, but a transformational way of living that leads to life.
Although it is not a popular subject today, there is a way of living that will cause a person to face God’s wrath on the Day of Judgment; His fierce wrath. But because of His kindness, God has provided a way to escape this. And that is through faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul is not holding up a window through which we can judge the world. He is holding up a mirror so that we might examine our own heart. And if we happen to see within ourselves any one of these traits, we need to admit that we are indeed filled with sin and have rejected God. This list is designed to convict us. And there is nothing wrong with that because salvation will not happen without a person first feeling convicted about their sin and then recognize that they are indeed living separated from God. Only then can a person confess, repent, believe, and be saved.
Here are the questions I was asked at the end of the Message:
1. How can Christians skim over verse 26-27.? Do they pick and choose what to believe?
Answer: Modern theologians do not skip over these vesres, they reinterpret its meaning using modern understanding. Take Walter Wink, for example. He is professor of Biblical Interpretation at Auburn Theological Seminary. He has a long list of credentials. His view on this test is stated in a booklet entitles Homosexuality and the Bible. He says on pages 3 & 4 that Paul wrote these words not knowing what science knows today; that some individuals are born with this natural tendency. Paul felt that everyone was “straight”. So his words are to be taken in that context. The problem here is that should we interpret the Bible through a cultural lens, or as the eternal Truth that applies to all people for all time. And what really stands out to me is that when Paul wrote these words, the Roman culture actually promoted and accepted the practice of an older man taking a young boy under his wing and train him in all areas sexually. But, as I said in the sermon, we should not single out just one of these sins because that misses Paul’s point. All of the sins listed here indicate that there is a deep problem in a person’s life. And the problem is that they have exchanged the glory of God for the dark and dirty things of the flesh. We can attempt to explain away homosexual behavior, but we cannot remove the stain of sin.
2. What role can the church play in confronting and combating this wickedness?
Answer: For those who claim they were born this way, I suggest the church agree. We should be agreeing that a person is born a sinner. We all have been born into sin. I will not argue with the person who says they were born with a same sex attraction. I will not, however, agree when they say “God made me this way”. That statement is not true. Sin made you that way, just as sin made me the way I am. We all have been born with a natural way of behaving that is contrary to God’s way of righteousness. So the church should not single out one certain behavior as the only indication that a person is living apart from God. What we should do is have a person look over this list and allow the Spirit to do His work of convicting. Instead of trying to get a person to clean up their life before coming to Christ, the church should lead them to Christ, and then the Spirit can do His work in their heart.
3. Is believing that God exists enough?
Answer: unfortunately, no. Salvation begins when a person admits they are a sinner, confesses that they are a sinner, sees their need for a Savior, and turns to Jesus in faith. We are Saved by Faith, not by belief.
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