Religion
man’s relationship with God or with something higher than himself
Morality
man’s relationship with man
Ones view of God, the true God, effects man’s relationship with man
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.
Two fundamental things to note in this vs.
1st God responds to our decisions concerning Him
2enly relationship between soul & physical body.
God responds to our decisions concerning Him
Many people, including Christians think (or have not thought it through) think that they can do whatever they wish, think whatever they wish about God, & there are no repercussions!
But God responds to our decisions concerning Him
This can be good or it can be bad—dangerous
If our decision is faith---God responds
Faith in Jesus Christ—God responds by saving
Faith in Holy Spirit —God responds by saving/restoring & blessings
Second major point:
The relationship between soul & body
Those who deny God as creator, are in darkness & denial of the relationship between soul & body!
If we are but product of Darwinian evolution, then our entire physical make up is just ‘matter’, put together,
we are animal machines, under law of physics not any higher law because there is nothing higher!
From rejection to depravity
Therefore God
everything begins with God, & continues in the realm of God!
One of the most essential issues in our lives is to know God, who God truly is!
To understand His essence & His Plan then to live daily under that plan.
If you wish to understand history, then you must understand the unbeliever;
What happens to man when he rejects God, JC!
This helps to understand why things happen as they do in history.
Helps to understand the rise & fall of nations,
Why national disasters
Why certain things happen in history
Why people act the way they do
It all begins with their view of God
Man through history constantly searches for answers as to why he failed?
Why this nation or society failed, what happened?
Book of Romans answers these questions!
& it is as simple as man’s interaction with God!
What happens when man believes in God, Jesus Christ & His Word
Or what happens when man rejects God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Bible & suppresses God out of his thinking.
In remainder of this chpt. we have 3 deliveries by God
& each flows from the former, & each is more intensified:
1st delivery to lust 24-25
2en delivery to degrading passion 26-27
3rd delivery to depraved mind resulting in self destruction 28-32
Therefore the God o feos the God, specifying the one true God
Therefore God gave them over
Aor.Act.Indic. paradidwmi this compound means more than just to give; Prep.prefix para to the side of; over to; + didwmi to give;
To give or deliver over or up to the power of someone
Aor. is used to note the process in it’s entirety!
Act. God is subject, God, Himself is going to deliver or give them over
Indic. declarative of what has happened & is happening throughout history—
Here again we see the grace of God, the respect of God for man’s free will.
Therefore God has no other choice but to allow man to go to his sinful perversions over turning to Him.
God will not violate mans will & force him to do something he does not desire to do.
& as we shall see, the natural result will be immorality of the vilest kind
Therefore God delivered them over in the lust
First of all this is prep. En + instrumental: by means of
God delivered them up, by means of lust in their hearts to impurity
Lust epiqumia a strong desire, longing; lust, passionate craving;
Lust cannot be fulfilled or satiated; lust is insatiable; it lingers & escalates; gets more & more demanding in it’s desires
Everyone has a lust pattern in their flesh nature make up!
You have a lust pattern!
Do not be in denial
Be aware that you have a lust pattern
God gave them over to the power of lust in their hearts
lust in the heart is the field of action!
To impurity akaqarsia unclean, uncleanness, impurity, or filth in a natural of physical sense; immorality; used of ceremonial impurity as well as moral impurity. Uncleanness of the soul.
The damage done to the soul, when you set aside God! Jesus Christ
Therefore, the God, delivered them over to the power of the lust in their hearts to impurity
Why? Why would God do this?
In order that ok, the reason:
in order that their bodies might be dishonored
Presest Passive Infin. Atimazw atimazo without honor; to dishonor; to treat with indignity; to degrade, to abuse.
They would reach the point where they would completely dishonor their own bodies, abuse their own bodies, pollute their own bodies
Degrade the human body
1 Cor. 3:16
Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1 Cor. 6:20
For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
24 Therefore the God delivered them over to the power of their lust or by means of power of the lust in their hearts to impurity, in order that their bodies might be degraded among them. Or between them.
This will be explained & amplified starting in vs 26 in terms of perverted sex, as open sign of degradation!
Two Questions:
How does God give them over?
Why does God give them over?
What almost everyone says is something like:
If you abandon God, God will abandon you!
This is God judging them!
What is your view of God?
Is this the kind of God you have?
Where, if you abandon Him, He will abandon you.
Its there, if that is your view of God…
All through Scripture, God is a God who seeks after His creatures
God seeks for all to be Reconciled
God is a God who is constantly calling mankind back home
From the beginning, first words spoken by God:
Let there be light
Let there be a way out of darkness, back to God
Our God is so set on reconciliation,
that He sent His only begotten Son to earth, to die the death of cross, & by that death & resurrection, made it possible for man to be reconciled with God.
1. These people have known God & suppressed His existence
2. Then they came up with futile speculations on how we got here, & where we are going.
3. Then they claimed themselves to be wise!
4. Then they devised religion & idolatry to replace God.
5. So this is the state or condition of man who denies God. He is satisfied & even comfortable in his religion & foolish speculations.
If left alone, in this condition, he will never come to God, he will never return to the Lord—if left alone!
So, God, who still desires them to return home, return to Him;
Yes, even after all they have done, God still desires them to come home to Him.
Oh, & if you think you are better, forget it!
Christ died for you!
6. What will wake these people up? If anything will wake them up, shock them back into reality, what is it?
7. This is why God del. them up, by means of the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.
8. How does God do this? How does God give them over to /lust of their hearts? By means of the lust of their hearts
a. remember about the flesh nature of man:
continually being corrupted; Eph. 4:22
most deceitful Jere. 17:9
incurably sick Jere. 17:9
full of evil Eccl. 9:3
insane Eccl. 9:3
B. so, if left alone, man would destroy himself, by his own nature. So God has restrained man’s own self-destructive nature. He has done this with such things as Law, moral consciousness, family, & knowing that there is a God, & the restraining ministry of H.S. That’s right, HS acts on people all through history. GJ 16:8-11 w/2 Thes. 2:7-12
C. Therefore all God has to do is to remove these restraints on man’s self-destructive nature, & allow man’s own flesh nature to bring him to this lowly dishonorable state.
So God simply delivered them up, to dishonor of their bodies by means of /lust in their own souls…
D. So by removing these restraints on man, & delivering them up to by means of lust in them, they become immoral with no fixed standards, in denial of how the soul & body work together, they became immoral to the point of perverting their own bodies.
E. Make no doubt about it, some of these lust drives, are lust for sex—to point of perversion
For power—to the point of corruption
For approbation – to point of insanit