Deny the Existence of God
Man independent of God
Man can & must do for God
Religion is what man does for God
Christianity is what God does for man
Religion under the Christian umbrella
Man must do something
you have to repent to be saved
you have to confess to be saved
you have to be baptized to be saved.
you have to join a church to be saved
you have to invite Jesus into your heart
you have to make Him Lord to be saved
You have to do something for God
I will do for you if you will do for me
Promise Trust Me
vs
I will do for you
Promise Trust me
The arrogance of man
Man centered
Arrogance begins with man independent of God
Humility-faith dependent upon God
There is non more arrogant than those who deny God, deny the being of Jesus Christ as the only way to God
they exchange not change
Allassw other, another,
To change means to make something different; to alter, to transform;
But to exchange refers to the act of giving, or taking one thing in return for another; act of substituting one thing for another
Active voice—unbel. who suppressed the being of God
No at God Consciousness
No at Gospel hearing
no, no, no, to the point of Hardening of the Heart
Indic. reality of this process all through history
They substituted the glory of /incorruptible God
For an image of corruptible man
birds
mammals
reptiles
Note the digression:
From incorruptible God to corruptible man then
Animals.
They substituted the glory of /incorruptible God
Possessive genitive from adj. afqartos not corruptible, incorruptible; This is your God!
What good is a god who is corruptible!
This is at the heart of religion:
to corrupt the incorruptible
& they do this by idolatry or by adding to the gospel!
They corrupt the glory of God by adding something man must do!
Man cannot corrupt the incorruptible God,
but he can try to distort how others see God.
Arrogance always seeks to corrupt God so that he can be like God, this goes back to the garden when the serpent said to Eve…
you will be like God
They substituted the glory of /incorruptible God
For an image this is where we get into idolatry
They exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for a ‘mere’ image in the form of corruptible man, birds, mammals reptiles
Corruptible fqartos corruptible, mortal, or perishable;
Corruptible mankind
Man is corruptible because of his flesh nature
Man is mortal because of death
Man is perishable because of his human body
Solution to all three of these is Resurrected body, which every bel. receives at rapture of church, when we receive a body just like His! Which is a body that is incorruptible, immortal, & perishes not.
The Resurrection is a truly wonderful event, that is imminent
Reptiles erpeton herpeton
English: herpatology
Idolatry!
1. Man rejects the Creator of all these creatures & worships the creatures
Worships the creatures & the earth, but rejects the creator! Rom.1:18-25
2. God’s attitude toward idolatry is throughout bible; namely in first two commandments:
The 1st commandment prohibits mental idolatry, &
The second prohibits overt idolatry.
Read Ex. 20:1-6
3. Idolatry begins in the mind with rejection of true God & then procedes to overt practice: Judges 2:10-13; Ezk. 14:7
Always remember, your attitude of God, will effect your thinking & your behavior
4. Therefore idolatry can lead to psychotic & neurotic conditions
There are many passages but one that states this clearly: Jere. 50:38
5. Demonic activity is always associated with idolatry; & finds its way into substitutes for Christianity like devil’s communion table in 1 Cor. 10:19-21
6. Throughout history, idolatry often expresses itself in perverse sexual sins—horrible abuse of the body: such as incest, homosexuality, lesbianism, (coming up in Rom. 1) bestiality; & social degeneracy Ezk. 22:3-18; 23:37-49; Lev. 18:3-25; Lev. 20:1-6; Lev. 20:9; & 10-23;
7. Finally, idolatry is used as an analogy for spiritual idolatry, spiritual adultery…man, including believers leaving God out of their lives & worshipping idols, like money, power, success, or just Self-centered life.
Jere. 3:8-10; Ezk. 16:23-43; 23:24-30; Rev. 17:1-5
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.
Two fundamental principals
1st God responds to our decisions concerning
Him
Second major point:
The relationship between soul & body