Walking The Roman Road – Lenten Season 2019

“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

Now, we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.

So, when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?  Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:1-5 NIV).

The Sin of Jonah

Imagine, for a moment, that you are Jonah, a prophet from Isreal, who has been given the unpleasant task of preaching repentance in the capital city of the sworn enemies of your people.  That wouldn’t be so bad if you were supposed to announce judgment and maybe even be allowed to bring fire and brimestone down upon your enemies and destroy them completely before they have an opportunity to invade your country and destroy your people.  How sweet would that be?

But, no.  God told you to preach repentance to your enemies and to add insult to injury, He let you know beforehand that they would repent and would be spared.  What’s the point?  Why would God be so patient with people who were so evil?  I thought He was on our side.  What’s going on here?

So there you sit, outside of the city walls (just in case) under a small tree trying to stay out of the heat of the midday sun.  You did your job.  Maybe without a lot of enthusiasm but what did you expect?  You tried to run away in the opposite direction but that was futile.  God sent a storm.  You were thrown overboard at your own request knowing that God was after you and it wasn’t fair to condemn innocent men because of your sin.  And then there was the whale.  What an terrible, distasteful journey that was.  But you deserved no less.  God would not be denied.  But that didn’t mean you had to like it.

So you did your job.  You preached repentance.  You let the people of Nineveh know that if they didn’t repent, God would destroy them.  You didn’t try to persuade them.  Your oratory wasn’t exemplary nor inspired.  You simply told them the truth.  You did your job.

Maybe because they knew you were Jewish and that you more than hoped they wouldn’t repent, they took you more seriously.  Maybe it was the fact that you were their enemy but still preached repentance and not just judgment.  Whatever the case, the city repented and God’s judgment did not come upon them.  Darn.

And then there was this darned fig tree that withered away right during the hottest part of the day.  Nothing was going right.  You complain to God bitterly about your own comfort but God wasn’t playing ball.  Instead of making you more comfortable, God rebukes you for your hard heart, because you made your comfort and a stupid fig tree more important than a city full of people who were in danger of the righteous judgment of God.

That is the sin of Jonah.  A hard-hearted, judgmental attitude toward others who were not like you while, at the same time, thinking you had some sort of special dispensation from God that allowed you to act with arrogance towards everybody else.

Sorry.  That isn’t going to wash with God.  The sin of Jonah is a serious problem among the Jews especially in Jesus’ day.  Don’t forget what we said about the context for Paul’s letter.  Between the Judaizers on the one hand (Jewish Christians who insisted every Gentile had to become a Jew first to become a Christian) and non-believing Jews who wanted to eradicate this new sect, things were not easy for the Gentile Christians in Rome.  Paul wasn’t just trying to make peace.  He was setting the record straight and calling sin what it was and the Sin of Jonah was a big problem in the early church (and to some degree in every church).

If you are one of those judgmental types of Christians who still don’t understand that we live by faith and are under no condemnation and you still think that walking in the Spirit is all about morality instead of relationship, then you are commiting the Sin of Jonah and these words of Paul are for you as well.  Take note.  It is an easy sin to fall into for all of us at one point or another.  More often than not we are willing to throw our brother or sister “under the bus” at the first sign of a problem or moral sin instead of valuing the relationship more than the sin and finding a way to forgive and reconcile.  After all, “love covers a multitude of sins” (I Peter 4:8 NIV).

The Desert Warrior

P.S.  Let’s talk to God….

Lord, I find it easy to focus on the sin and the morality even though I know that I have the same weakness in me.  Maybe it’s a different type of sin but it comes from the same source and condemns me the same as everyone else.  Teach me humility and teach me to value the spiritual unity with my brother and sister above all.  After all, you have already given us the solution to the problem of sin and evil within and we only need to apply it in each situation.  But often, we don’t.  We hold grudges.  We gossip and slander and talk down the other person when they aren’t around.  Forgive us, Lord, for the sin of Jonah and for our hard hearts.  In your name I pray.  Amen.

 

 

Walking The Roman Road – Lenten Season 2019

“I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.  For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16)

I’m a Good Guy

“I’m just having a hard time with all of this evil and wickedness stuff,” John said, his eyes fixed on mine.  “I just don’t believe it’s true.  I’m a good guy.”

We were having our weekly chat after the Alpha Course and John was also following my blog on the book of Romans.  He always had a lot of questions and I enjoyed the honesty.  He was becoming a good friend.

“I have no doubt that you are a good guy,”  I said.  “In fact, if getting into heaven was about being a good guy, you would be at the front of the line.”  John looked at me as if I was joshing him, but I was serious.

“I didn’t say I was all that good,” he countered.

“No, I’m serious,” I said.  “I’m not giving you a hard time.  Lots of people are good people.  And it is hard for us to connect with this list of evil that Paul gives us.  But I think you are missing something.”

“What am I missing?”

“You told me when we were first talking about things that you didn’t have a relationship with God, right?”

“Right.”

“So, you were godless.”

“Well, godless is a strong word.”

“Is it true or not?” I asked.  “Did you have a relationship with God?  Did you consider what He wanted?  Did you let Him have authority over your life or did you do pretty well whatever you wanted?”

“Well, within limits.”

“God’s limits?”

“Maybe.  But I wasn’t thinking so much about Him as about my family, and society and the law.  Things like that.”

“So you were more or less a moral person but you were still godless.”

“Ok, sure.  If you put it that way.”

“That’s the way Paul puts it.  And if you are godless, it leads to wickedness.  Wickedness is defined as selfishness, anything that isn’t based on love, really.”

“I’m a pretty loving guy.”

“I’m sure Sofi would agree,” I said with a smile.  “But if I asked you to be honest and make a list of everything you’ve done wrong in your life, every time you didn’t show much love, or enough love, or any love, would there be anything on your list?”

“Well, sure.  But that’s true for all of us.”

“Of course.  I never said it wasn’t.  My own personal list is very long.  One of the problems with becoming a Christian is that you become even more aware of your sin than you did before.  It can drive you nuts.”

“If we are all in the same boat, then we are all more or less good.”

“Or, if we are honest, and use God’s standard of love and respect and care for everybody, we are more or less evil.”

“I would rather be positive and look at the glass half full.”

“God would rather be honest and look at things the way they are,” I said.  “It isn’t about how much sin or how much we lack love for our neighbor but rather why we are the way we are.”

“What do you mean?”

“Evil isn’t just about morality but about relationships, remember?”

“Sort of.”

“Let me give you an example.  Have you ever fought with Sofi?”

“Yeah.  Remember?  We had a bad fight just a couple of weeks ago.  I almost left her and she almost got an abortion.”  John’s face looked a bit haunted.  “Are you going to tell me that all of that is an example of evil?”

“What do you think?”

“Probably.”

I waited for him to continue but he didn’t say anything.

“Well, I wasn’t really trying to bring up those bad memories.  I was just talking about a normal fight you might have had.  Lots of couples fight over money, over which movie to see, over their in-laws.  You know….”

“Yeah, ok.  Sofi and I fight like that sometimes.”

“Well, have you ever noticed that sometimes the fight is over something really important and sometimes it’s over something really not important at all?”

“Yeah, like what movie to watch on TV.  We do that all the time…..”  Now John was smiling again.

“Exactly,”  I said.  “The thing you need to realize is that it isn’t about the “thing” you’re fighting about, it’s about the relationship.  It’s not the what but the why.”

“I hadn’t thought about it that way before.”

“Women are especially sensitive to that kind of thing.  And everybody has their own standards of what love looks like.  God too.  Although God has the right standards and He includes everybody.  We love each other in a messy, half-hearted way and are pretty exclusive with our love.”

“Ok, I can see that.”

“So, the issue isn’t morality but rather what the lack of morality says about our relationship with God.  The fact that we are willing to hurt him just to get our own way, says something.  The fact that we don’t even consult him when we should, says something.  Try doing that with Sofi and see what happens.”  I was looking hard at John, willing him to understand.

John was thoughtful for a moment.  “So it isn’t that much different from our human relationships, you’re saying.”

“In some ways yes and in some ways no.  But you get the point.  If you ignore Sofi and you live your life as if she doesn’t exist, or worse, doesn’t matter, what do you expect.  She isn’t going to like it.”

“Especially if I’m married to her,” John said.  “I would never treat her that way.  I love her.”

“Exactly,” I agreed.  “Marriage makes it a “necessary” relationship which you can’t ignore and you treat your wife badly at your own peril.”  I paused.  “But I know a lot of guys who do exactly that.  They treat their wives badly.  They ignore them.  They don’t ask for their opinions.  They treat them like trash.  Sometimes they are even abused by their husbands.”

“They should all be shot.”

“I agree,” I said.  “But the truth is that we all do it sooner or later, once in a while, when we aren’t paying attention like we should.”

“So you are saying that God is also a necessary relationship and that we don’t have a right to ignore Him either?”

“Exactly.  Because if we do, there are consequences.  Just like in marriage.  But because it is God we are talking about, the consequences are eternal and are a matter of life and death.”

“So, you are saying there is nothing God can do to stop these consequences from happening to me?”

“No, what I am saying is that there are natural consequences for ignoring God and if you continue to do so until your death, then there is nothing anyone can do to save you, even God.  You won’t be able to stand being with Him in heaven so you will end up in hell, and you won’t like it, not one bit.”

“So what if I don’t continue to ignore God?”

I got up from my chair and walked over to the fridge.  I needed to think for a moment.  John seemed very open and I wanted to say the right thing.

“Look, John,” I said.  “If you ignore Sofi and treat her badly for a long time, would you be surprised that there are consequences?  Maybe she leaves you or you get a divorce or something?”

“That makes sense.”

“Well, with God it is the same thing.  But if you came to me in the middle of the process and asked me for help, could I potentially get you and Sofi back together?”

“Maybe.  Depends if Sofi wanted to get back together.”

“Right.  In this case, God is saying that He wants to get back together with you but it has to be done in the right way and for the right reasons and your heart has to be in it.  Does that make sense?”

“Is that what God is saying?”

“Yes.  That’s why it is called good news.  God wants to get back together with us.  He loves us and he wants to forgive us and start fresh again.  But it has to be done his way.”

John was nodding his head.  It looked like he was finally getting it.  The conviction of the Holy Spirit was doing its work in his heart and he had fresh eyes to see what was really going on.  I was excited and relieved at the same time.

The Desert Warrior

P.S.  Let’s talk to God….

Lord, I also think that I’m a good guy.  When I look at all of the moral lists, I can see that I fail at some of them but not the worst ones.  I generally try to do the right things and care for the people around me.  But it is true that I ignore you a lot and that is not right.  It isn’t just about the morality, or how good or how bad I am but rather about the relationship.  Forgive me, Lord.  I want to reconcile with you and become your child once again.  Please show me how.  In your name I pray.  Amen.

 

 

Walking The Roman Road – Lenten Season 2019

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” (Romans 1:18 NIV)

“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised.  Amen” (Romans 1:24,25 NIV)

“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts” (Romans 1:26 NIV).

“Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity” (Romans 1:28,29a NIV).

“They invent ways of doing evil” (Romans 1:30b NIV)

“Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:32 NIV).

But for the Grace of God

Evil is relational, progressive and has eternal consequences.  We don’t take sin seriously enough (even in the church).  We justify ourselves when we have no excuse.  We rationalize our mistakes (and call them mistakes instead of sin).  We acknowledge that the world has problems but believe the fantasy that science and technology (our modern gods) can solve the problem because we refuse to recognize that the problem is within.

If we are religious, we look for ways to please God in order to get benefits from him.  Offensive to say the least.  Even my wife would never put up with that.

If we are not religious, we simply ignore God and do what we please.  Perhaps we have some moral limits instilled into us by our parents or society at large, but the truth is, that if there were no consequences (or if our justification was strong enough) who knows where we would end up?

There, but for the grace of God, go I.

Do we really believe that?  Are we really aware of the fact that, left to our own resources, we are capable of horrendous things?

I remember watching the TV Series called CRIMINAL MINDS.  The head of the team often has to remind the others that “all of us are capable of horrible things under the right circumstances.”

And it’s true isn’t it?  There are restraints on us instilled by our parents and society and the law and the threat of punishment.  We like to think that we are good people and not capable of great evil (only small evil).  But that is not so.

On the one hand, all evil is unlove and comes from a broken relationship with God (and therefore with our fellow man).  Therefore all evil (big or small) has the same nature and comes from the same source.

But, in addition, in humility, we need to recognize that it isn’t ourselves and our sterling character that keeps us from committing greater evil.  We can’t take the credit.  Some people would at least credit their upbringing to some extent, which is a start.  Others would credit their education, their religious training, their family context.

But the disturbing thing about the evil within, is that it needs to be restrained at all.  Whatever the source of that restraint.  Left on our own, we are all capable of great evil.  That is the truth.   It is common to see the story of evil as a consequence of great trauma or rejection or mental illness or injustice or a bad upbringing but those are all excuses (even if true).  We are responsible for our actions.  Evil in the human heart is not something to be trifled with.

The fact that there are reasons for our evil behaviour does not excuse us.  Others who have gone through similiar situations, made different decisions not to do evil.  Our decisions define us.  Too often those decisions are selfish and dangerous to those around us.

So with that in mind, that we are all capable of great evil and prove it with the evil we already are committing, let us take a closer look at these verses from Paul where he describes “wickedness” in more detail.

There are a number of passages in the Bible, especially in Paul’s letters, that give a list of evils for us to consider.  The amazing thing is that Paul includes homosexuality together with gossip, murder with boasting, depravity with disobeying your parents.  What is going on?  Apparently, Paul is putting them all in the same boat.  It isn’t just that the consequences of each action is different but rather that the evil is the same.  It comes from the same place of brokenness and is a example of “unlove.”

The point is that you and I cannot escape.  It is easy to think that the “bigger” sins do not apply to us, but then Paul also includes the “smaller” sins.  Then we realize that Paul never classified them as “bigger” or “smaller” but lumps them all together into one list.  He does that consistently in all of his letters.  Certainly some things you and I may not participate in but we would be hard pressed, if we were honest, not to find ourselves in this list somewhere.  Certainly when we were not yet saved (but still struggling with some of them).

Did you notice that Paul also returns to the two types of people that he had been talking to in the previous section?  The non-relgious types and the relgious types.

In vs. 25 he is talking to the religious types.  “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator…”

In vs. 28 he is talking to the non-religious types.  “since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God….”

Paul lumps them together as well.  Did you notice that for the religious types, the issue is truth (or belief)?  And for the non-religious types, the issue is value?  Interesting.  It pretty well covers everybody, doesn’t it?

So when you are talking to people about the gospel, you need to recognize where they are coming from.  Are they religious types that simply believe a lie rather than the truth?  That is the focus of your efforts when you explain the gospel.  Truth corresponds to reality.  Reality is full of evidence for the existence of God and the presence of evil.  Start there.

When you are talking to the non-religious types, you need to focus on value.  They simply don’t care if God exists or not.  They live their own lives on their own terms.  In their case, you need to warn them that their godlessness will have consequences if God actually exists.  In this case, some discussion of the existence of God and the evidence for that truth may be helpful.

Paul will go into a deeper discussion of the religious types when he talks about the Jews but for now, there are plenty of relgious types also among the gentiles.

Two other things we need to take note of about the nature of evil.  Not only is evil in all of us to one degree or another.  Not only are we all incurably godless (without Christ).  Not only is evil relational and progressive.  Evil is on purpose.  Maybe not at first and maybe not in all things.  But you and I have all had the experience of doing what was wrong, knowing it was wrong, and stubbornly doing it anyway.  That stubborness, that willfullness is in all of us to one degree or another.  If we let it continue, it will only get worse.

So, yes, some of what Paul talks about is where evil ends up and maybe we aren’t there yet (or have been saved from continuing down that road) but it is still illustrative of the nature of evil.

In vs. 30b, Paul says “they invent ways of doing evil…”  The thing about evil is that it is often disguised as “good” or as “freedom” or as “my right to live life on my terms.”  Hitler, I am sure, believed that what he was doing was for the good of Germany.  He had no moral restraint other than his own sense of what was right for Germany.  The rest of us may not agree but most people don’t do evil knowing that it is evil.  They call it good.  Or they justify it as their right to live the way they want to.

In that context, we often invent new evils, new ways to fulfill our own desires without thought of others (or our own) good.  The world has so much of it now-a-days that our entire economic system is based on self-interest, our media entertainment has been given the freedom to explore the dark recesses of evil in the human psyche.  And on and on it goes…..we are almost immune to it.

Secondly, Paul says in vs. 32, “although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

There are two things to comment on here.  The first is whether or not people really know that the consequences of their actions deserves death.  And the answer is obviously yes and no.  In addition, they may not think of death as “God’s righteous decree.”  Perhaps Paul was only talking about the Jews or those who may know something about the Jewish religion.  Perhaps.

But I think that it has to do with Paul’s earlier statement that “the eternal power and divine nature” of God is visible to everyone in creation, even if our senses have been dulled because we suppress that truth through our wickedness.  An obvious connection exists between acknowledging that God is there and that we have a moral duty to him, that we are accountable to him.  If that is true, then it is also obvious that God is good and that morality means that we must also be good and if we are not, there are consequences.

The moral nature of man may be dulled and even redirected somewhat, but if we take Paul’s words in chapter 2: 14,15 about the gentiles not even keeping the law within their own hearts, breaking their own integrity, their own moral code, much less the code of God, that seems to be a context that suggests that they know better.  They may not think of it as “God’s righteous decree” but they know evil has consequences and that the road of evil leads to death.

Later on, Paul will point out that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) but here he is saying that we already know that.

The other thing to take note of in this last verse is again about the nature of evil. Paul says in vs. 32b that “they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

Evil not only commits evil but also encourages evil in others.  It doesn’t matter if you call it good.  It doesn’t matter that you think homosexuality is fine and is a personal choice.  Evil and good are not determined by you (or them).  It is determined by God.  God says that it is sin which means that it isn’t love which means that it isn’t good for them.  But that goes the same for gossip, slander, boasting and a host of other sins as well.

Be careful what you approve of, even as Christians.  The standard isn’t the political atmosphere of the day, or the popular opinion of the masses.  That doesn’t mean that we should be judgmental or treat people badly.  After all, we are on the list too.  In humility, we need to let God be God and accept that what he says is true.  Period.  He is good and we are evil.  We are not good and He is evil.  Getting this fundamental truth straight is the first step in the Roman Road.  After all, there but for the grace of God, go I.

The Desert Warrior

P.S.  Let’s talk to God….

Lord, if it wasn’t for your grace, I would definitely be worse off than I am today.  Evil is scary business.  It is insiduous and it creeps in when you least expect it.  Help me to recognize it, confess it and help me to repent of it.  Thank you for your forgiveness and grace which I need every day.  Help me to treat others with that same grace and humility.  In your name I pray.  Amen.

 

 

Walking The Roman Road – Lenten Season 2019

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” (Romans 1:18 NIV)

“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised.  Amen” (Romans 1:24,25 NIV)

“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts” (Romans 1:26 NIV).

“Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity” (Romans 1:28,29a NIV).

“They invent ways of doing evil” (Romans 1:30b NIV)

“Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:32 NIV).

The Revelation of Wrath

I want to go back to verse 18 that tells us that the wrath of God “is being revealed against” the godlessness and wickedness of men.  That particular verb is very interesting.  Obviously, it gives us the idea of a continuous reavealing over time so we can assume that whenever we see the godlessness and wickedness of men, we can reset assured that the very fact that they are getting away with it and it is going unchecked, is a sure sign of the wrath of God against them.

It should sadden us and move us to tears.  They will live with their own wickedness and its consequences for all eternity but without dulled minds, without believable justifications, without insipid rationalizations.  They will clearly see the truth and there will be nothing that they can do about it.  They will “gnash their teeth” in regret and frustration because now the existence and authority of God will not be in doubt and their wickedness and evil will be their eternal bedfellow.

The wickedness of man is a revelation of the wrath and justice of God.

The Bible is obviously a revelation of God’s intervention in this world and his plan to save mankind from their broken relationship with Him.  Nature is considered a revelation of the “eternal power and divine nature” (vs. 20b) of God, as Paul said earlier.  But have you ever thought of the evil and wickedness of man as a revelation of the wrath and justice of God?  No.  Not normally.  Paul says that it is.  Learn to read that revelation properly and you will learn a lot about how this world really works and what God is really up to.

But there is another way to look at this verse.  Very often we replace (in our minds) the word “revealed” with the words “poured out.”  We read the verse (almost without thinking) as “The wrath of God is being poured out on the…..”  That is why we are confused when we read in vs. 24 that God’s wrath on the wicked is just God letting the wicked be wicked.  Basically letting them (for now) get away with their wickedness.  That’s God’s punishment?  Doesn’t seem so bad.  People get to do what they want in this life.  That’s what they wanted in the first place.  They wanted to cut God out of their lives, and so God punishes them by leaving (sort of).  God can’t leave, of course.  And you can’t completely cut God out of your life.  It doesn’t work that way.  He is God after all.  He isn’t going anywhere.  But He can simply let you wallow in your pig pen until you come to your senses or until you die in your misery.

But here’s the thing.  We tend to always think like humans, not God.  The saying goes, Satan thinks like man, but God thinks of eternity.  Not only does Satan think like man, only about this earth and what happens now, we think like Satan.  We forget (or ignore) the eternal consequences of our actions.  God does not.  They are the most important part of the equation.

God is love and He knows that it is folly not to think of the eternal consequences of our actions.  He is willing to sacrifice to make sure we are saved for eternity, not just have some relief in this life.  Sad to say, most of us when things are comfortable, find it easy to ignore God but when the pressure is on, we run to Him quickly enough.  That is part of our condition and God has to take that into account.

So when God reveals his wrath against the godlessness and wickedness of men by giving them over to their wickedness and no longer restraining them or stopping them, it is an act of wrath and justice when you look at it from the point of view of eternity.  Obviously, individual people can still be saved.  As any pastor will tell you, most people first start to take the gospel seriously in the context of sin and hurt and suffering and general wickedness.  They don’t come to God because of the cookies and donuts or for the warm fuzzies of hearing a lovely sermon about God’s love.  There is a real world need that drives them.  That is the truth.  God must use the presence of evil to drive people into the arms of Christ so that they can be saved.

But let me suggest another, complimentary, way of looking at this revelation of the wrath of God against the godlessness and wickedness of man.  The context of Paul’s remarks is the solution that he starts to present in Romans 3:21.  “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.  He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:21-26 NIV).

Twice Paul says that God presented Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for our sins “to demonstrate his justice.”  Another way to put it would be to reveal his wrath against the godlessness and wickedness of men.  Wrath comes from justice (which is rooted in love).

Therefore another way to understand vs. 18 is to realize that the wrath of God is revealed to us when we see the Son of God in his hour of passion and his sacrifice on the cross.

You see, the big problem we all have in our godlessness and wickedness is that we suppress the truth of God’s existence and his nature as God and as the one to whom we have to give account.  He is our moral compass, our standard that shows our wickedness and rebellion against him.  It is not a sustainable position to maintain in this world.  We are short sighted and we are dull minded.  Everything we do is futile and without meaning.  We are subject to death and time is our master.  We are stupid fools living in a world that constantly tells us that there is an intelligent design which suggests an intelligent creator, a person like us, a sentient being, like us.   But the truth is we don’t trust him enough to do what we want even though we try to ignore him or control him with our religious activities.  Either way we are doomed.

The biggest problem with humans is that they don’t realize the danger they are in.  They don’t look at the world from God’s point of view.  Paul preaches the gospel from God’s perspective.  He tells us the story from the point of view of the writer of the story.  The creator of the world is a force to be reckoned with, a person to whom we have to give account, the one entity we cannot ignore, any more than we can ignore death or our own humanity.  The gospel starts with an evaluation of our true situation before God and how hopeless it is if He doesn’t intervene.

And if the wickedness and godlessness of the world with all of its evil and hurt and pain and suffering isn’t a sufficient revelation of the problem, then perhaps the cross of Christ is.

The thing about the cross is that it is an instrument of torture.  Probably still one of the worst ways to die ever invented by man.  As a symbol of Christianity, it is a strange pick.  The cross, for many people, represents the grim realities of a godless and wicked world in which the innocent die at the hands of the mighty and uncaring.  It is a symbol of the reality of sin and injustice and discrimination and corruption and pain.  It is a symbol of everything that is wrong with this world.

But for Christians, it is all of that and more.  Yes, it is a symbol of wickedness and evil but it is also a symbol of resurrection.  It isn’t only about friday but also about sunday.  It is a symbol of God’s willingness to look at the harsh realities of our godlessness and wickedness and rebellion and transform it into the resurrection power of new life because of Christ and his work on the cross.  Therefore the cross stands for reality transformed by love through Christ.  Reality transformed by love.  That is the message of the gospel of Paul.  But if you don’t want to look reality square in the face and call evil what it is and acknowledge godlessness and wickedness for what it is, what hope is there for transformation.  It starts with confession and repentance before you can gain access to forgiveness and reconciliation.

So, yes, for those of us who refuse to recognize the danger we are in, the wrath of God is one form of revelation.  You can see it partially in the general godlessness and wickedness of man but you can see it most clearly in the cross of Christ where the wrath of God is not only revealed, but poured out on the Son of God.

Jesus said in the garden that he did not want to drink the cup of the wrath of God.  Obviously not.  Who would?  But Jesus most of all.  His love for his father was so complete, so perfect, that even a drop of God’s anger much less his wrath was too much to bear.  The depth of Jesus’ love for his father was what threw him into the depths of his temptation not to drink the cup of wrath and become sin for us, the one thing he abhorred with all his being.  But in the end, he chose to obey.  He chose obedience over fellowship, trusting his father to make all things right in the end.

That is the true test of love.  Loving obedience that trusts the Father to always do the right thing especially when we don’t understand everything that is going on.  To trust the Father with our very lives, with our suffering, with our pain, with discrimination, with injustice, with our reputations, with our social standing, with our integrity, with our blood, sweat and tears.

If we were ever in doubt about how serious our sin was, we need only to look at the cross and see there the wrath of God poured out upon his innocent son to realize that things are that serious, that dangerous that only the Son of God dying a horrible death, with the wrath of God poured out on him could save us.

Sin is not something to be ignored.  You cannot skip this step in the Roman Road.  You should not take a person any further until they recognize that their sin caused Christ to die on the cross and that it is that serious and cannot be side stepped or ignored.  There is no gospel of salvation without the message of hell and damnation because of our sin.  There is no shortcut to sunday without going through friday and its pain and suffering because of our sin.  That is the true revelation of God’s wrath against our sin.

The Desert Warrior

P.S.  Let’s talk to God….

Lord, every time I think about your death on the cross I want to cringe.  I know that if I was the only person in the world who needed it, you would die for me.  But like Peter, when you wanted to wash his feet and told him that it was a service you needed to perform for him, at first I want to refuse because I don’t really think that things are that bad.  I can change.  I can do it myself.  It fills me with shame to think that you have to reduce yourself to a common servant and wash my feet, or die on the cross.  I have to accept that I cannot do it for myself.  So, like Peter, I ask you to wash all of me, cleanse me from my sin and transform me with the presence of your Holy Spirit.  In your name I pray.  Amen.

 

 

Walking The Roman Road – Lenten Season 2019

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” (Romans 1:18 NIV)

“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised.  Amen” (Romans 1:24,25 NIV)

“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts” (Romans 1:26 NIV).

“Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity” (Romans 1:28,29a NIV).

“They invent ways of doing evil” (Romans 1:30b NIV)

“Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:32 NIV).

Evil is it’s Own Punishment

You might have noticed that I omitted the list of sins in the verses above, especially the talk about homosexuality as a depravity in the eyes of God.  That was on purpose.  Not that I don’t believe it to be true.  I most certainly do.  But, rather, because people nowadays are distracted from the main message by the discussion about homosexuality.  We will address that wickedness later on, but for now, we want to focus on the main teaching that Paul is giving here without going into specifics.

(I may have already lost some of you with the comment that homosexuality is wickedness, but the truth is that the list of evil Paul gives is very long and it covers all of us.  So don’t fret.  Whether you are homosexual or straight, Paul considers us all to be “wicked” and deserving of the wrath of God.  That is the lesson that must be learnt.  We are all without excuse.)

Most people who try to explain what Paul is saying in this first chapter of Romans usually connect vs. 18 with this whole section.

It starts with the word “therefore” which connects it to the previous section on godlessness.  That is why we say that godlessness results in wickedness.  Hold on a minute, you say.  It sounds here like God is responsible for this wickedness.  People are godless.  I accept that.  It is pretty obvious but here it is saying that God’s punishment is that he makes people wicked.

Well, no.  That’s not what it says.  It says that God “gave them over” to their wickedness.  In fact, Paul repeats that phrase three times in vs. 24,26 and 28 so it is a key idea.  What in the world does that mean?  Something like “God let them be wicked because they wanted to be wicked.”  Remember that this is from the point of view of God, or at least from the point of view of someone who believes that God exists.  That is true of everything that Paul is saying here about humanity.

Earlier, Paul said that people who were not religious at all were “stupid” (my word) because they wanted to be a god (or an authority or a law) unto themselves.  If God exists, they are competing with God.  A fundamental reality of life, like the immutable law of gravity, is that if God exists, then he is in charge and we are accountable to Him.  Humans are not a law unto themselves whether they like it or not (if God exists).

Earlier, Paul said that religious people who worshiped idols were “fools” (Paul’s word) because although they acknowledged the divine, they wanted to control the curses and blessings of life through religious or moral activities in order to get the benefits that they wanted (a good harvest, health, money and resources etc).  We do the same thing today.  We are all “fools” because we do not let God be God.  We may acknowledge that he is there, but we want to control Him rather than let Him control us.  We still want to be in charge.  We still want to be gods unto ourselves.  If God exists, then this isn’t going to work either.

Now, Paul says that in both cases, for the religious and the non-religious alike, God gives people what they want.  Wow.  That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.  Can you imagine?  Because a thief is wicked, God’s answer is let the thief be a thief.  Give him what he wants.  Let the murderer continue to murder.  Let the child molester continue to molest children.  What of the innocent victims in all of this?  Well, apparently, there are no innocent victims (which we still have a hard time accepting).  But still, what is God up to?

When we talk about the secular problem of evil, we acknowledge that there is something fundamentally wrong with humans and we try to manage it as best we can.  But it is our problem.  As soon as we talk about the relgious problem of evil and bring God into the picture, everything changes.  Now there is someone who has the power and authority to do something about this general wickedness that we all experience every day.  Therefore, we cry out to God to DO SOMETHING about evil.  We might even want to blame him for being so passive about our hurt and pain and circumstances.  But we would be missing the bigger picture.

We need to remember another truth from scripture which theolgians call the providence of God (and common grace).

The idea is that God keeps the world going even though we have rebelled against Him.  After all, God promised Adam and Eve that they would die if they cut themselves off from their creator by disobeying Him by eating of the forbidden fruit.  They did it anyway.  And they did die but not right away.  We talked about God’s dilemma of love.  How does he save his children while still maintaining his justice.  He put a plan in motion which required that the world would continue (even in their wickedness) until the Saviour could come and solve the problem once and for all.

I call it an “uneasy truce” between God and man.  That truce of love gave the devil power to accuse us in the court of justice of God (see Job) and it wasn’t until Jesus completed his mission that the devil was thrown out of heaven once and for all.  It was an uneasy truce of love which cost God a lot since he has to put up with sin and evil and rebellion and general wickedness each and every day.  But his wrath and his justice, both rooted in love, were fulfilled in anticipation (in the OT) and in completion (in the NT) of the work of Christ on the cross.

The thing that we all forget is that the nature of evil is progressive.  There is no easy way to control it.  It gets worse every day until it self-destructs in death and eternal damnation.

We think we are controlling it with police and laws and the justice system and prisons and punishments.  Maybe.  A little bit.  But we all know that it can get out of hand pretty quick.  The truth is, says the Bible, is that God has to put some controls in place.  Yes, he uses human means to get the job done.  He did it in Israel and he does it in the rest of the world as well.  But it goes far beyond that.

The providence of God (and common grace) have to do with the fact that God has to control evil and modify it and even stop it at times.  He has to keep it in check.  Not only does God give us all good things but he also keeps evil in check.  That is what the providence of God is all about.  We think we are the ones who love our families, our children, our friends, our neighbors.  But the truth is that whatever love we have comes from God.  A little stress, a little trouble and we all become quite selfish quite quickly.  That’s the truth.  How many times has God saved you from yourself?  How many times has God kept you from harm?  How many times have you almost gotten killed, almost gotten hurt, almost committed a major mistake, almost got into a bad relationship?  We probably don’t even know how many times we have been saved from our own folly.

On the other hand, we remember the times when God didn’t save us and we got hurt, we hurt ourselves, we got into trouble, we ended up in a mess.  Why didn’t God save us from that?  The short answer is because He loves you.  That is always the answer to the problem of evil.  It seems counter-intuitive but it is true.  If you want to know the truth, the reason that God does not always interfere, does not always protect you from your own folly, or from the folly of others, is because he loves you (and the other person).

God has to use evil in order to bring about good.  You and I cannot do that.  By no means.  But we cannot judge God by human standards.  Let God be God.  He has the knowledge, the power and the goodness to handle being the judge of all mankind.

And one thing we know, since the world continues on with its evil, is that He has a plan.  And we know that plan includes all of us (not just me) and that none of us are innocent (including me) and that God’s plan is to save as many as possible through the work of Christ on the cross.  All evil, all wickedness, all problems and hurt and suffering is subject to that great design of God.  And if we truly understood the eternal life and death nature of the battle we face, we would agree with God that it is worth it.

I, for one, pray all the time that God would use my life, the good and the bad and the ugly, to show my children and my family that He is real and that He transforms lives.  I am willing to let God use evil to bring good into the lives of the people I love.  The thing is that God is willing to use hurt and pain and suffering in my life also for the lives of people I don’t love.  You get the point.  From His perspective, it is worth it because God is love and His love is much more powerful than mine.  That is why He has the power to save and I don’t.

So evil has a purpose.  It isn’t always clear in the details but we are dealing with the idea in general.  Why does God not just get rid of evil?  Because if he does, it is called the Final Judgment and we will all be found guilty and we will all be lost.  There is a reason why God is patient, not wanting anyone to perish but all come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:9).  So the short answer to the religious problem of evil is still the best.  Why doesn’t God do something about evil?  Because he loves you.  He is willing to put up with sin and evil in his efforts to save as many as possible because the alternative is final judgment (and nobody wants to go there without the protection of the blood of Jesus).

Now, here is the point.  If that is the normal way that God deals with the world, with the evil and wickedness of men, by limiting it, by using it to get people’s attention, by changing it into good, by allowing some love, some goodness, some hope to continue on so that people will have a chance to be saved, then what is Paul saying here in this passage.  It doesn’t sound the same at all.  God is “giving them over” to their wickedness.  Do you see how horrible that is?

When God gives up on you, you need to start worrying?  We talked about Pharoah during the ten plagues in the OT a couple of days ago.  He hardened his own heart the first couple of times and then God hardened his heart towards the end.  If God exists, if He is trying to save this world from the consequences of their rebellion, then it is significant to hear that God has decided to harden your heart, to give you over to your wickedness, to the consequences of your sin, both in this life and in the next.  That is the saddest thing that I could imagine and should bring us all to tears.  Love may be it’s own reward but sin is also it’s own punishment.

The Desert Warrior

P.S.  Let’s talk to God….

Lord, do not give me over to my own sins.  Do not let me harden my heart.  I need your mercy every day to stay in the right way.  I need your help to love my neighbor as myself.  I belong to you.  But I see now why this is such a terrible punishment to just allow people to go to hell in their own way, to destroy themselves in their folly, to let people rebel and die and face eternal punishment.  May it not be so for me and my loved ones, Lord.  In your name I pray.  Amen.