Condemnation Because of Trust in Rites

So today wraps up Romans 1 and Romans 1 is really, I think, the beginning of a text that ultimately is so relevant to the believer and it's so relevant to the unbeliever. There's probably no better text in the Bible that really kind of reveals the fact that all men are guilty before God. and everybody is responsible.

And Jim and Hal and I are going to get into that in Romans 2 as we progress in the study of the Book of Romans. And in one we're kind of just seeing that through the creation and through in part the consciousness which is going to be revealed much more completely in Romans 2 that we're all guilty and then ultimately Ultimately then the cross is presented in terms of the ultimate justification of the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and his righteousness. So last week in this section, Romans 1, 24 through 32, we kind of looked at the major issues that were facing the believers and the community that lived in Rome. And I think what we ought to do before we move into today's terminal aspects of Romans 1. Let's go back and read the last nine verses of the chapter. Jim, you've got your Bible up in there. Could you read 24 through 32 for us?

Therefore God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than their Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions, for their women exchanged a natural function for that which is unnatural. And in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire towards one another, with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they could not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice. They are gossips, slanders, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful. And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death. They not only do the same, but they also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Thanks, Jim. And last week we touched in part on kind of the graphic nature of this text. This is not subtle material. And we also kind of reviewed the fact that homosexuality is not new to this age. that this is built into the sin nature and has existed from Genesis on to the modern era. So this is something that's not new. The sin nature is not improving over time or getting worse over time. The sin nature is the sin nature. And so we have to always remind ourselves that the lifestyles that these people existed within is consistent with Adam and all that he's about.

And what we're going to do today is kind of give a glimpse as to what God ultimately does when he allows man to move entirely in his own path. And so the title here is, God Gives Man Over for Reprobate Minds, or the solus aspect of his existence. So let's look at verse 28. In the Amplified Version it says, And so, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or approve of Him or consider Him worth of knowing, and we'll come back to that in a second, God gave them over to a base and condemned mind to do the things not proper or decent, but things that were in fact loathsome. And we got a kind of a glimpse of that last week. So, failed to acknowledge or approve.

This is an interesting term as you look at it in a little bit more detail. This is kind of like You know, you're out there in kind of a non-committed world and you're kind of deciding what path you want to choose. And so the concept is something like this. Let's have a coin and let's flip it 50 times and see which way it comes up. And ultimately, this approving, the decision to approve is kind of like the coin came up heads 30 times and tails 20 and we choose heads. I mean, that's the concept of the verb in terms of the way it's interpreted in context.

So these people kind of maybe tested the white waters of righteousness, quote unquote, for a period of time, decided that this other way is just more convenient, more comfortable, and that's what they, in fact, approved for themselves and for others. So that's a, it's kind of, I think, an interesting concept as you think about that a little bit more in detail. Now, this knowing here, let's look at it in context.

It says, in so sense they did not see fit to acknowledge God. Again, keep in mind, they've got God over here, and they've got their own lifestyle over here, and they're kind of flipping a coin, and, you know, it looks like I'm going to go this way. Okay, with that kind of mental concept about what's going on here, it says that they didn't consider him worth knowing. Look at the Greek term for knowing.

What do you think of when you think of epinosis? What kind of knowledge is this? Why would they even be considering an epinosis form of knowledge? Why is this Greek term, epinosis, rather than gnosis, or the term that just means you know, more of an indicative interpretation, like, I know that Holly Hills is on Holly, or that if we go north, Evans runs east and west. I mean, that's head knowledge. That's a different Greek term. Why does Paul use epignosis here?

I don't necessarily have the answer. Does anybody have an opinion? Paul, in his heart, decided that these people who had chosen this other lifestyle had a strong knowledge, an intimate knowledge of God and still made the choice to go the other way. Do you think that implies that they had an intimate knowledge of God? Well, they must have known something.

I don't think he would have used the term. Paul doesn't use terms indiscriminately. What do you think of when you think of terms, Greg? Well, I think it's going back to earlier in the chapter when they all know of God, they know of his power, they know... Through creation.

But that's not an intimate knowledge of him, and what he's saying here is they may know about God, but they don't know God, and they don't want to know God. So you're saying Paul's kind of putting the knowledge that the believer potentially can have of God up here on a pedestal.

And they can't aspire to that. They're not in a position to do so or have chosen not to. That's right. They don't get to have a relationship with them. Not when they're living in sin the way that they are. Because they know that something's up there and they just don't want to... Now keep in mind how they got there, right? This coin flip. And I'm going to choose this. This is what I approve of. This is what I don't approve of. Right?

So the whole way they're going about this, how could that be epinosis of the Heavenly Father or of the Lord Jesus Christ? I mean, think about believers. We're privileged to ultimately have an epinosis type of knowledge through our experience with the Lord Jesus Christ, are we not?

It seems to me that most of us don't exist at that level of knowledge most of the time. I mean, we aspire to it and we have an ownership for it. But this is seemingly placing this relationship so far above anything that's achievable, particularly for the unbeliever. Yeah, Hal. Just thinking, God wants us to have more than a knowledge of him in terms of Romans 1, 18, 19, 20. He wants every single person in this world to have this intimate knowledge of him. That's his desire. Can you hear Hal back there?

Okay, other thoughts about this? Okay, so we see the result of their choice. is ultimately one in which has led the Lord to give them over to their own ways. Well, we've seen this before. We have a sleepy remote here today. Well, Jim read it this morning. Jim, again, read it 24 and 26 again. Just kind of read it again for us.

24. Therefore, God gave them over in their love for the heart. to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. Verse 26, for this reason God gave them over to degrading passion for their women and changed natural function for that which is unnatural. Okay. So what did God give them over to? He gave them over to a reprobate or base and condemned, unfit, unproven mind. So are these people then therefore lost forever? Is this the forbidden race in terms of God's grace? What are your thoughts? Once God gives you up, is that the end? No further chance? No comments? I wouldn't think so. Well, that's the soft human response, right?

You know, you get the idea that this is a lifestyle that's so profoundly separated from God that ultimately, in his own power and will, this may be, in fact, his position. But yet, from our perspective, that's never true. We don't have perfect vision about this, right? So as far as we're concerned, every man and woman that walks this planet is capable of being saved. But yet the text looks like God is kind of through with this. He's given these people over to a lifestyle that looks like it's unremedial. But again, from the human perspective, we can't make that decision. So we are never in a position to say someone's lifestyle proclaims them impossible of becoming saved.

Yes, Carol? We may have ceased ourselves in a certain way. Influent arrogance. Oh, really? The lister before us. We're going to get to the list. I'm glad. This list could preoccupy us. And I tried to make this more interesting than just going down this list. But let's see what's ahead of us, because it's hard to avoid the list.

So what we're seeing here in verse 28 is I think the end of the text is to do those things which are not seemly and ultimately this really translates into a lack of remorse for sin. These people have ultimately ended up in a lifestyle where there's no longer any concern for their lifestyle. This is the way of life.

So homosexuality, I mean look at the age in which we live. My mother and I were at a party for my division last night where I work and on the way home we were listening to some oldies on the radio where there was an Elton John song and we began conversing about the fact here Elton John is singing songs about love and now retrospectively what kind of love is he singing about anyway? Is this man for a woman? a woman for a man, or is he singing about his boyfriend all these songs retrospectively? And now, just think about it, when Elton John came out, I mean, what, 25 years ago, 20 years ago? I mean, there his homosexual lifestyle was a hidden agenda.

But now he's having a public wedding, isn't he? Coming up? To his boyfriend. Right? Public, accepted. People will attend and give gifts. What's that all about? You know, and is Elton John capable of being saved? Absolutely. But nevertheless, I mean, that's the kind of change, even within a couple of decades, that's occurred in terms of the acceptance of the world system about a homosexual lifestyle. Unbelievable. And Donna kind of gave me an elbow on the way in this morning. She said, I listened to your tape last week, and she said, you know, animals don't even do that. I hadn't thought about that before, but that was an interesting comment.

The thing I want to put up here for you and in bold print is remember we're all capable. There is no sin which we are incapable of performing in our own because we have the same old man, the same out of nature as anybody else. And that's really a humble reminder of the great grace that we experience on a day-to-day basis as believers because ultimately that path can be walked by each one of us. So, that's something to be remembering on an ongoing basis.

There we go. So, there are a couple of other examples of this lack of remorse of sin. 2 Timothy 3, 8, now is, Jannes and Jambus have withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith. Now, to define the term reprobate, it's unseemly, unacceptable, unfit, in all the terms we just used to define it. But reprobate really doesn't relate to necessarily a type of life or a lifestyle. The term reprobate really is the absence of God-based faith. And that ultimately can take place in a wide variety of forms.

Titus 1.16, they profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient, and under every good work reprobate. Now, reprobate isn't necessarily a homosexual lifestyle, but reprobate could be a mindset or a life that really is in the absence of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the term is a much more broadly based term than, in fact, just a lifestyle. Well, it is a lifestyle, but in terms of a homosexual lifestyle.

So what things in context are not proper or decent? Some opinions? So God gave him over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not seemly, or not proper, or not decent. All right. The term comes from two Greek terms, kata and hiko, which really ultimately get translated best into becoming.

So this, this idea of things that are becoming, they're not becoming, they're not kind of acceptable, they're not really in the context and consistency of the Lord Jesus Christ enacting in the life of a believer. So would that be anything that's not of his character? I mean, you know, what is improper? I mean, if we're in Christ and his life is living out through us, then his character is living out through us. Alright, I will. So, if we're not in him, than anything that's not of him could be considered improper. It's hard to put a yardstick to this.

And as we mentioned last week, there is some sin that ultimately has consequences that goes far beyond other sin. I mean, just think about that. Think about murder. Think about rape. Think about the homosexual lifestyle. Think about these kinds of things and the consequences of that type of behavior versus the consequences of being proud. or being vain, or white lies, or some of these we're going to get into today, whispers. What's a whisperer?

I mean, somebody, we'll get to that. But anyway, just keep in mind that I agree with Margaret, it's anything that's separated from God. So this list doesn't necessarily have to be so graphic and so definitive. Does God play an active role in this putting people off into their own lifestyle? In other words, turning them over or giving them up unto the terms we've been looking at today?

Let me tease you here a little bit. Come on, remote. Here we go. 2 Thessalonians 2, 10 through 12. Let's see how well you know your Bible. and with all the deceit of unrighteousness and those who perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned who believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

That looks to me like an act of role. So what's the trick? You get the handout already, don't you? You've got to interpret the word in context. This is tribulation times. And there God will play an active role. Because remember, during this period of history, prophetic history, the spirit will be removed. And the earth will be spiritless. and there God's active role is removing, it sounds passive, but his removal of the spirit relates to his activity in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's really kind of special if you think about that.

I mean there's this spirit of kind of righteousness that prevails the entire globe, is there not? That doesn't bring many to salvation, but I mean there's this kind of acceptance that is restrained within the aspects of government which God himself created. But during the second half of the tribulation period, there's going to be none of that righteousness prevailing on the globe. So that is an active role, because God has removed his active power in the universe to allow righteousness at least to be given of some credence to every person who walks on the planet.

Yes? Good example. Absolutely. So that was an active role, wasn't it? But you know, we get the idea that Pharaoh had gone so far that God gave him up, right? And now God, in fact, in Pharaoh's situation, was playing an active role. I mean, I think people interpret that to say Pharaoh hardened his own heart, and we interpret that maybe in a way that God wasn't playing an active role. Pharaoh just got to that point. But I don't have any trouble interpreting the Bible to say that God ultimately reached the point where He's going to create His purpose in terms of what Pharaoh was all about.

We can never put ourselves in God's position. We can never really perfectly understand His will. Remember, His wisdom is far greater than ours. His foolishness is wiser than our wisdom by far. But yet, nevertheless, it looks to me like during the second part of the tribulation period, God will remove all act of grace. And there'll be nothing by which man can do that is going to be through his power or strength. Yeah, sure. No, I'm saying he's not. I think he's giving them up into their own ways. Right. is really what causes the problem, as opposed to God having an active role in making that happen. Right, Margaret.

And keep in mind this atmosphere of God's righteousness and God's spirit in terms of right and wrong through creation and conscience is still there for the whole world. I mean, his spirit is still transcendent in terms of the Earth's experience. Why would somebody feel guilty about doing something and be an atheist? I mean, where's that come from? I mean, that's God-given.

And I think in Romans 2 we're going to get at this to some extent, this consciousness that God intrinsically places in each and every one of us what's right and wrong. Now, the problem with conscience in terms of a driving force of salvation is your conscience can be influenced by your environment.

Let's say we're part of a very, you know, third-world tribe where cannibalism is perfectly acceptable. So yeah, you get hungry enough, you know, Jim, you look like you could eat a pretty good sandwich here today. So we fry up Jim and have him for lunch. But maybe that's accepted within the culture, but the consciousness of the Lord maybe hasn't transcended that, that that's murder to kill Jim for a sandwich.

It sounds kind of crude, but the issue is what I'm saying is that culture can influence conscience. And so conscience is not saving. but consciousness is an outreach of God in the world system to allow people to have a sense of what's right and wrong. It's not perfect by any means and it doesn't save, but yet it's another aspect of God's omnipresence in this world. Yes? So when God gives them over then, is the Holy Spirit still working in that unbeliever's life? I think the Holy Spirit is working in the globe. you know, in the sense that I just mentioned, in that individual's life, of course, that person's not saved, right? So there's no indwelling Holy Spirit. But the Spirit, the atmosphere of the Spirit is in the world system, or surrounds the world system, it's not intrinsically in the world system. So we still have the conscience of right and wrong? I think so. I mean, you know, these people, though, have ultimately, again, through this decision, oh, I'm going to choose this way, have decided on a lifestyle they get very comfortable with.

And the question is, how do you appeal to these people? I mean, as a church, as an individual, how do you reach these people for the Lord? By grace, and God's working through each one of us, I guess. These people have ultimately, and as Carol so importantly reminded us, we're all capable and we may have in fact done a few of these things too. But these people now are left over to their own unrighteousness, and we're going to now go down the list about what this lifestyle is all about. And keep in mind, we're all kind of touching some of these at times in our own lifestyles as believers. The difference is we're saved, we confess, and we move on, right? I don't know about you, but I've been... some of these things, we'll take a look at them. So, yeah. Yeah, Al?

He would still have everyone to be saved. But you get the idea, though, that God now with this type of behavior, this lifestyle that's totally devoted to self and sin, is a lifestyle he gives room to develop on your own. And we're not in a position to understand when he... This is tough in terms of knowing exactly how God deals with these people, but yes, they're in a position ultimately to be saved. All of them, right? I don't know whether God's giving them up ultimately means He's given up on their salvation, but that's not our position to understand. I think it's possible that ultimately there can be a lifestyle developed where people are so ingrained in that lifestyle, in themselves and in the world system and sin, that ultimately God may say, I've had it.

And that's His position to do so, but we can't interpret that here. We're not in a position to think that any man cannot be saved. But yet it seems to me that God in some way has separated Himself from these individuals. Is that an active role? No, I sense it's more of a passive role. I don't know that I can translate exactly how He's carrying this out. Absolutely. But we must admit that God has stated something very specific for this group of individuals.

And by the way, there's no way we can get out a tape measure and decide who has reached this point. I mean, we're not in the business of weighing sin in terms of what's kind of a better sin and what's a worse sin here. All sin is not consistent with God's righteousness. All sin. including vanity, pride, and whispering. Yes.

You said that we can't decide if God has given them over and not going to save them. Is that because you don't feel Scripture is clear on that? No, I say God is not willing that any should perish. In this situation, He's clearly given them up unto a lifestyle.

What does that mean? It means, in my opinion, that He's at least allowing man to choose his own way once he reaches a certain level of sin as a way of life. Yeah, Greg. So my take on this is that man declares himself to be smarter than God. And so, you know, declaring themselves to be wise, they became fools. 1st Corinthians 1 stuff, right? And so God says, fine, go ahead, do what you're going to do and see where that gets you. I don't see this as being, as God saying, I'm sorry you've hit this measure and now I'm done with you.

And if you look at the end of Romans 5, you've got, you know, sin abounded, grace abounded, Right, that's right. And there's no limit to, sin cannot be greater than the grace that's there. So there's no place on that yardstick that somebody hits where God's grace can't be sufficient to save them.

So I don't see this as being a permanent, I turn you over to it, I'm done with you, I'm going to work on these guys over here and see if I can save them. I'm happy with that. I think that's consistent with what the Word would say. And the point I was trying to make is whether or not God would feel that way, which would not be consistent with grace abounding more so than sin, that's not our opinion ultimately to make any decisions about.

Even if that were true, and I'm not saying it is true, all I'm saying is even if God would say that this group of people, for whatever reason, are not going to be saved, even if He said that, we're never in a position to say that, ever. We don't have the mind of God. So every man and woman on this planet needs the Lord Jesus Christ. And also, maybe this has been said, but when God gives them over, He could stop them, but He doesn't do that. He gives them over to their sin. He could intervene and stop them, but He's not doing that.

That's right. I mean, none of us are robots, right? We all have an active role in our salvation, both to become saved, being saved, and ultimately to be saved. That's more in his hands in terms of the future, but anyway. Okay. Yeah? Is that just another example or maybe an extreme example of God letting us get to the end of ourselves? Yes.

To realize what he wants us to realize? Are we talking about the unbeliever or the believer now? The unbeliever. the unbeliever getting to the end of themselves. The question is how many people ultimately get to this point where God gives them up unto their own ways and lifestyle that ultimately then come to salvation? Probably some. The thing is, what I'm getting the impression of this text, and correct me if I'm wrong, is these people now are totally on their own.

There's no spiritual curiosity here at all. I mean, they have decided that God is not for them. Verse 28, we just read it, right? I mean, verse 28 says, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. And that's the King James. I think the Amplified's better. You have it on your first page. And so, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or approve of Him or consider Him worth the knowing.

I mean, these people have decided God's not worth our time. So they are not currently seeking anything of the Lord. How would or would this apply all to people who are believers who have gotten so entrenched into a lifestyle like that? You know, where they don't care about God anymore and they're doing whatever they want to do?

I think that ties nicely into David's comment. I think the Lord's going to, as believers, when we fall into this trap, I think ultimately that death trap is one that brings us back, and God would likely use it for that. But I don't think this is written to the unbeliever, but potentially could it be applied to the unbeliever? Potentially, I think. The believer, I mean. I mean, this is written to the unbeliever, right? But if a believer ultimately... I think we all ask this question all the time, is that if an unbeliever chooses this way of life...

I mean, we talked last week a little bit about churches where homosexuality is accepted, right? I mean, what's that all about? I mean, you know, it'd be one thing, and this again is last week, and I'll repeat it for those who weren't here, the idea of someone who comes out of a homosexual lifestyle and becomes saved, and then slips back into that lifestyle periodically, but confesses, I mean, the issue is they realize the sin, that sin, but yet they slip back, but their salvation is understood, and ultimately the grace is sufficient, the fellowship of the Lord, the back and into the path of righteousness, the life of righteousness. I mean, that's a whole different deal than kind of saying, you know, we're a church of homosexuals.

The question has to come up, are these people biblically based in terms of their salvation and are they really saved? So I think a believer that falls back into this trench of life ultimately is one we have to ask the question, are they really saved? But if they claim to be saved and are biblically saved, only God knows whether that's really true or not. But we want to make sure we understand. This is really written for the unbelievers.

Bill? Don't we have to go back to the gospel and say Christ became sin? Yeah, 2 Corinthians 5, 24. He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God. Right? But just to the point that he became sin, but he was saved. He was exalted. So he never lost his faith. that these others perhaps do. But is that what matters? Or does it just matter that he had his faith at the end? And all the sins listed here, all the sins of the world, that ever happened, were him, were on him. But he was saved.

So is there anything only one of us can do that's too great? No. No, there's not. But you must admit that they're probably proclaimers of the gospel who in fact do not have the ingrained gospel. I mean, there's a lot of hot air in Christianity. And there's none of us that can be certain about anybody's salvation.

The nice thing about salvation is you and the Lord know it's true. And hopefully those around us in the body know it's true. That is reflected by our lifestyles and what we say and how we converse and how we reflect the scriptures in terms of the truth of the scriptures. But yet the only two people that know about whether our salvation is true is the Lord and ourselves.

Jim Rachel presumably knows you're a saved man. I would hope so. I'm spending all this time with you and stuff. She's heard you teach Sunday school and raise your kids and do all the other stuff. We all have this comfort that people that are close to us who claim to be saved are saved. Because we have a dialogue, there's a language we speak, there's an understanding. But salvation is of the Lord and known by Him and the believer perfectly well. And we all, the rest of us, have a pretty good feeling that everybody else that we hang out with who claims the Lord Jesus Christ are also saved. And that's good. That's the work of the spirit and the body.

But you want to be careful here not to use the lifestyle as the measuring rod, because ultimately, as I pointed out when we were studying 1st and 2nd Corinthians, is that a lifestyle can be very, very appropriate and look like a believer, but that person has no saving faith whatsoever. And yet there are believers at times who say things that we just don't believe are out of the mouth of the believer, or their actions do not represent the working of the Holy Spirit in the Christ life within.

And we're going to say, well, I think that person's saved, but look at that behavior. Back to the point you were making about somebody who falls into this trap. And if someone would fall into a trap of a lifestyle that God has given up these unbelievers to, you have to start asking the question, is that individual really saved? And again, the Lord and the individual is the beginning and the end of Okay, I was told if this occurred, give it three minutes and we'll hit this button twice and we may have a projector again.

All right, well, we've gotten the story. Let's go ahead fairly quickly now. You got your hand out there. Romans 129. So now we're going to kind of go down this list. And to be honest with you, when I saw this text for this week and I was studying it and preparing for this, I thought, gee, just going down each one of these terms and explaining them really isn't very edifying. But what we're going to do is look at this very quickly. And then I have a table at the end that I prepared that I have a homework assignment for each one of you. And you'll see what that is here in a second.

So Lemons 129, New American Standard version. Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice. They are gossips in the New American Standard. So this is a perfect passive accusative particle. which means to be filled to the brim.

This is not just I mean, we think about filling. We all have a concept of what a full gas tank is. But have you ever cranked that switch a few more times to get a little bit more gas in there? I mean, the idea here is this filling isn't just kind of to the top. This is kind of an overflowing kind of filling.

So this is Robertson's kind of word program that I pulled this out of in terms of four vices in the associative instrumental case. Let's see if we got it. OK, right, let's see if you're true here or not. So here's the great terms and we go down there and we can identify each one of them. I've given you some scriptures to look at to to enhance these passages in terms of their validity and context.

One thing I would like to do right now real quick, let's turn to Mark 7, 15 through 23. This is a passage that is one we kind of take for granted, but I think it's a good place as a reminder where we're looking at wickedness. I just put in parenthesis, by the way, that fornication is in the King James, but it's not in the New American Standard and in the Interlinear Greek. There are 23 of these, quote, sins listed, and two are not in the Interlinear Greek, and one is fornication. So I put in parenthesis, you won't find that in the earlier text.

Oh, good, look at this. We're a real prophet. Okay, so let's look at this very quickly. We may not be able to read the entire passage. So Mark 7, beginning at verse 14, And when he had called the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me, every one of you, and understand. This is so beautiful. This is something that I reflected on with my late wife, bringing up our children when they were young and kind of going through the teenage years in terms of what things kids should be exposed to and what things they shouldn't be exposed to.

There's nothing from without a man that entering into him can defile him. Now, that doesn't say you take your children to certain types of movies. I mean, this doesn't give you total freedom and limits, unlimits to what you might do with them. It'd be totally flexible. But there's nothing from outside a man that entering him can defile him. But the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

And as you continue down the text, it develops this more completely. And that's a really neat verse to think of periodically, because we're so kind of in the mood often of just sheltering ourselves from the world. And again, I'm not encouraging us to get involved in things that are kind of on the edge of moving into a world that's filled with lust and sin. But nevertheless, we've got, every one of us, the capability of carrying out any type of behavior we want. It's all within. So we can be defiled by the world around us, but yet the source is what's within. So I think in context of all these things that we're going down, we have to keep that in mind.

So wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, or inward viciousness. Boy, these terms are strong terms. Inward viciousness. I mean, keep in mind, God gave them up to all of these, including inward viciousness. How much more graphic can a term be than inward viciousness? This is premeditated harm. I mean, this is a strong term. Then there are five substances that are in the genitive kind of tense, and the genitive tense identifies kind of ownership. indicates possession. And in that list we've got jealousy or envy. Come on.

We've got murder or slaughter. Actually the Greek term is better translated slaughter. I mean you think a premeditated murder could be, you know, discreetly carried out, right? This is slaughter to imply something even more graphic and more destructive. Strife or debate. Deceit or guile. And then the tendency to put a bad construction on everything, kind of the action that relates to the depravity of the heart with a malicious disposition.

And then we've got the list of Romans 1.30.

I just combined these verses together because these are 12 substances and adjectives that give vivid touches to this composite photograph. This is Robertson's terminology. I love this. Vivid touches to this composite photograph of the God-abandoned soul. How's that for a phrase?

Secret slanders. Those are the whispers. That's kind of talking about other people that nobody else can hear about. We'd say it in secret. Nobody's going to know anything. Well, the Lord sees that perfectly well. I took a verse from Psalms, all that hate me whisper together against me, against me do they devise my hurt, right? It's something I sense many of us are guilty of at times. A forward man sow a stripe and a whisper separate at the closest friends. A little Old Testament text there. Okay, talking back. How about that one for children but also for parents. And these talkers back, back biters can be carrying this activity out secretly or openly. Okay.

God haters. And some people imply that these are people that God hated. That's not a good interpretation of this. It's God haters. Individuals who hate God. Now keep in mind, again, God gave them up to become God haters. This is what they've chosen. They hate God. And that's among the list. And we've got some text there that reflects on that. Insolence. haughty, stuck up. First John passage is worth looking at there. We won't have time now. Braggarts.

Inventors of new form of vice. Makes me think of the modern age in which we live. Are inventions themselves sinful? No, but you get the idea that what's being invented here was. So these are people who are inventing new forms of vice. And in a sense you could think maybe the computer age we live in is potentially going down that path in terms of all the possibilities that are there to serve the sin nature.

Alright, and then disobedient to parents. That's an ancient and a modern trait. Go back to Deuteronomy 21, 18 through 21 and see the punishment for being disobedient to your parents. It's pretty harsh. Good that we live in a different age. Without understanding people who treat, you know, covenants, you know, and do not live up to them. Lack of love of kindred and relatives. Does anybody live in a family where there's kind of an estranged relationship to your brothers and sisters or your parents or even your children? Lack of mercy. Implacable, by the way, is also left out of the original text. And we'll end with verse 32.

And although they know not the ordinance of God that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only practice these things, that they give approval to everybody else who does them. If that's not true of the homosexual lifestyle these days, is it? I mean, everybody's just okay. That's really the way things should be. But that's the same with any of these things. God-haters. They want to associate with other God-haters. To try to promote their cause. And promote their cause. We see that every day. And it's becoming more and more graphic and verbal.

Okay, so we might have time here now, but the judgment of God, does that relate to death, spiritual death, physical death, or both? And it probably relates to both, because clearly we're all going to die, so physical death's ahead for all of us, and in fact the sin nature that we live in may in fact give rise to an earlier death from certain causes.

Let's see, what happened to that final one? Okay. Remember though, the whole world's guilty before God. What's the alternative? Well, the alternative is on your next slide. Here are the tables that I made for you. I listed all of the 23. you know, examples of the condemned lifestyle, if you will.

I've listed them all for you, and I gave the first verse where each of that beginning of the list is listed, and then the next verse, Romans 1.30, 1.31. And on the right, I began doing this, and I decided it might be really fun for each one of us to go home this week and look at the Christ man in terms of what that life looks like in comparison.

So unrighteous, righteous. Fornicators, those who are faithful to their spouses. Wicked, holy. Covetous, grateful. Malicious, pure. Full of envy. I just kind of picked some terms there. You could maybe find even better terms. Full of envy, content. Murderous, accepting. In other words, the response to murder somebody would be accepting of who he or she is in God's great grace. Full of strife, peace. We brought in a page number there.

Deceitful, truthful, maligned, gracious, whispers, transparent, backbiters, uplifting, God-haters, God-fearing, insolent, meek, haughty, lowly, braggarts, humble. And there are texts where we can get at all these. Inventors, advice, trustworthy, disobedient to parents, obedient to parents, without understanding, mind of Christ, covenant breakers, faithful, without natural affections, loving, implacable, dependable, unmerciful, merciful. And these are all attributes of the new man.

And as I've so frequently done here before in Second Corinthians, if I can get this thing to advance for us. So the concept here is a life that stems from above. And I love Miles' little scenario here that I reflect on frequently. Live positionally, crucified, risen, seated. Live positively, fully persuaded. Live possessively, all things are yours. and live triumphantly more than conquerors.

Let's close in prayer. Father, we're thankful for this very graphic section of Scripture in that you have a way of portraying your hatred for the ways of the world and the sin nature and all that it's about, but yet we're lifted up in the Lord Jesus Christ and clearly conquerors and triumphant in Him. Have us consider our relationship that's so precious and so sure that that truth would prevail in our lives, that we may live above and bring light into this great world of darkness that surrounds us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.