For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result people are without excuse.
Romans 1:18-20 HCSB
I watch in awe as a nation full of people just don’t seem to get it. They try to do things that are opposite God’s instructions and think that this will fix things. When evil is perpetrated, revenge is plotted. But yet we are told in Romans 12:19 that we are to leave vengeance to God. We are told in Romans 12:17 that we are not to repay anyone evil for evil.
When we allow our flesh to take over and we do the things that we are not supposed to do, we are on a slippery slope. Our scripture passage today shows the beginning of someone who will be given over to their evil desires. Paul goes on to say in Romans 1:21that though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude to Him. What we are supposed to do is glorify God with our words and with our actions. We are to praise Him and give thanks to Him.
Some ask the question about people that have never heard of Jesus and never read the Bible. Are they able to be saved? What happens to them when they die? But this is not what we are talking about today. Today we are talking about people like me and you. People who read things like this blog on the internet. People who have probably at least heard of God but may have chosen not to do much about it. Maybe they just have chosen idols over a relationship with God. By this I mean that perhaps they have put other things in their life first and God has fallen down on their list. They may know God, but they are not glorifying God with their words and their actions. They are not focusing on Him and devoting themselves to Him.
But what is really scary is what comes next. Paul goes on to say in verse 21 that their thinking became nonsense and their senseless minds were darkened. True wisdom comes from God. So here Paul is telling us that for those of us that choose to act a fool and disobey God’s commands, God will allow us to become fools. He will allow our thinking to become nonsense and our minds to be darkened. Proverbs 3:7 warns us not to consider ourselves wise but to fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
Paul goes on in Romans 1:22 to tell us that claiming to be wise they became fools. The most foolish thing we can do is to consider ourselves wise in our own right. We must acknowledge that wisdom comes from God and we must seek wisdom from God. When the Israelites began to consider themselves wise they traded the glory of God for idols.
In Romans 1:24, Paul tells us that God gave them over to the cravings in their hearts and to sexual impurity. They degraded their own bodies. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created rather than the Creator.
Now maybe you are like me and you have a ton of excuses for your disobedience. I used to try to justify every sin I committed, thinking God would understand and would over look it. We serve a God of justice. He will not overlook our sin. There will be a price to pay. We live in a nation founded on biblical principals. But we have taken Jesus out of our schools, out of our government buildings and you would be hard pressed to find Him in some churches. We are seeing God’s wrath. God tells us that we will have trials, but He promises to be there for us and protect us through these trials. He promises us that our trials will produce strength and endurance.
There are no excuses for your sinful behavior. If you aren’t careful, God may just turn you over to your sinful desires.Turn to God today. Trust in Him. Know that He’s got this no matter how bad this gets.
If you have read this information today, then you have been warned. You have an opportunity to dig deeper and gain a deeper relationship with your Lord and Savior. I pray that you will do so, because you are now without excuse.
Have a great day!