Lesson 5 - Romans Chapter 1:22-32 | Deer Creek Canyon Bible Church

“And their foolish hearts were darkened” (cont’d)

Isaiah 32:6
“For the foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity: To practice ungodliness, to utter error against the LORD, to keep the hungry unsatisfied, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.”

Ecclesiastes 10:2
“A wise man’s heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man’s heart directs him toward the left.”

I don’t know if Solomon was looking into the future, talking about the left leaning liberals of today, but they pretty much only listen to man’s wisdom, and reject anything that has do with God.

Col. 2:8
“Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.” (NLT)

The foolish heart that rejects and dishonors God, doesn’t all of a sudden become enlightened and freed, as some sophisticated unbelievers would like to think. It’s quite the opposite, they become spiritually darkened in their minds and souls, further enslaved to sin, causing a deep separation from God.

A darkened heart can’t help but reject the light, and fall deeper into sin.

John 3:20
“For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

John 8:12
“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Spiritual darkness will bring about a perverse morality, just look at the world today, perversity is abounding.

Eph. 4:18
“Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.”

Living in rebellion to God and His will, is equivalent to living in spiritual darkness, where they’ve closed their minds to God’s truth.

Matt. 4:16-17 (A prophecy from Isaiah, as told by Matthew)
“The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The world needs light, but it is steeped in darkness, the world needs Jesus… but it rejects the light.

Rom. 1:22-23
“Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.”

(22) “Professing to be wise, they became fools”

Man had decided that he was bigger than God, and more important than God. Man refused the witness of God’s creation, while deep inside, they would know the truth, but outwardly they chose to reject the obvious truth.

With that, they failed to honor God or glorify Him.

Man has a propensity to worship, it’s in our DNA, this being true, man began to worship the creation… birds, animals, and even bugs. This was easy to do because they were living by man’s wisdom and not God’s.

This came about due to their “darkened hearts” in verse 21.

Psalm 53:1 King David had seen this,
“The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. “

Even the most intelligent person in the world can’t think perfectly. Ask him to describe his origin, purpose, or even his destiny… and he will come up short, that is unless he has God’s wisdom within him.

John MacArthur gives us a warning; “These dominating worldly speculations often infect the church. Because, for example, gifted and articulate unbelievers have so long and loudly touted evolution as scientific fact, rather than philosophical theory, many Christians have been intimidated into accommodating their theology accordingly. In the name of theistic integrity but also, and infinitely more disastrously, compromise God’s revelation. They accept the unfounded foolishness of unregenerate men above the flawless truth of God’s Word.”

Rom. 1:24-25
“Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

God abandoned them, He gave them up to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired.

Can you imagine God throwing up His hands and saying to you, “That’s it, I’m done with you, do whatever you want.”

This should be taken seriously, there can come a time when a person has rejected God for so much and so long, that God will reject you… that is unless a person repents, then God’s grace is sufficient.

II Peter 3:9
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

God is patient and long suffering with us, but the danger can lie within us, it’s known as a seared heart or conscience.

I Tim. 4:1-2
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,”

This kind of sounds like our world today.

Back to our verse…
(24) Gave them up; paradidōmi – to deliver up one to custody, to be judged, condemned, punished, scourged, tormented, put to death, to deliver up treacherously.

Paradidōmi It’s an intense verb. God gave them over simply by withdrawing His preventive and protective hand, allowing the consequences of sin to take their inevitable, destructive course. In a way, it’s tough love from God.

Once God takes His hand of protection off you, you’re in a free flight mode… and not in a good way.

It’s kind of like when a parent says to their rebellious teenager, “If you can’t obey my rules, in my house, then you’re out of here!”

These people were rejecting God and even worshiping animals. It’s easy to understand that they started acting like animals and even worse… which we will see later.

For the Christian, let’s set our eyes on Jesus, He needs to be the object of all our worship. Back in the day, Jesus had all kinds of people around Him… there was something very special about Him and the people knew it.

II Cor. 3:18
“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.” (NLT)

The only sensible choice for the Christian is to worship Jesus and not the things of the world, to be like Jesus, and not the world.

Eph. 5:5
“You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.”

(Like worshipping animals)

The people Paul is describing here in Ephesians sounds very similar to the people here in Rome, not the crowd we would want any part of… except to tell them about Jesus.

(24) uncleanness, “God gave them up to uncleanness”… They could now have their own way of impurity… “in the lusts of their hearts.”

Impurity Akathar-sia (a-ca-thar-sia): it’s used as a moral term, usually referring to sexual immorality, and impure motives.

Col. 3:5
“So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.”

(24) “To dishonor their bodies among themselves,”

“As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.” (NLT)

Here we see man’s devolution continuing his downward fall. The body that indulges in sexual impurity is itself dishonored; it is tainted, disgraced and corrupted.

But the worst is yet to come. Man not only committed these sins in open rebelliousness against God, but they encouraged each other to sin with them.

The Indianapolis Star April 15 1981, reported. That child molesters have their own national organization called NAMBLA (National American Man Boy Love Association). One of the shocking things this article mentioned was that at a large seminar to discuss prevention of child pornography and related crimes, a man interrupted the proceedings and loudly defended his and other men’s rights to indulge in such perversion. Today, more and more men have become open and bold about their perverse activities.

This is how far man has devolved… but God sees this all.

Matt. 18:6
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”

Sounds like falling into the hands of God.

(25) “Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie”

Lie; pseudos (sue-das) a conscious and intentional falsehood, this also refers to idols. They are satanic counterfeits of God, void of any truth or power.

John 8:44
“For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (NLT)

If you don’t have God’s truth, you have the counterfeit, satan’s lies.

Isa. 44:20
“The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes. He trusts something that can’t help him at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, “Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?”

In Tim LaHaye’s book “Revelation Unveiled”
“It is evident even today that human beings seek to worship what they can see. This is reflected in the widespread use of idols and holy relics in conjunction with the worship of the religions of the world.”

Idols are lies.

The world at large is so confused, it doesn’t realize that even if something seems to be good on the surface, if it’s not from God’s truth, it’s satan’s lie.

John 14:6
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

I never get tired of hearing this verse.

(25) “And worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

• If you’re not worshipping and serving God, who are you serving?

Creature: of individual things and beings, a creation.

Jer. 13:25b-27a
“For you have forgotten me, putting your trust in false gods. I myself will strip you and expose you to shame. I have seen your adultery and lust, and your disgusting idol worship out in the fields and on the hills.”

Worshipping the creature or creation is disgusting idol worship as far as God is concerned. Man has a great tendency to worship creation and not the Creator.

“A physician attempting to discover how to heal the brains of people who have been traumatized, was using anesthetized cats for his research. When the animal rights people heard about this, they shut the whole experiment down. The doctor was frustrated because, although his findings could have saved thousands of lives in a wartime situation, his work was brought to a premature end because our culture says there’s no difference between a cat and a man.”

How foolish man has become.

Man began at the highest level, he was made in the image of God, but then he ended lower than the beasts of the field, because he started to worship them as his gods.

Rom. 1:26
“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.”

God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. (NLT)

Jon Courson; “The pit of perversity is evidenced by a culture accepting and glorifying in homosexuality.”

Psalm 103:1-4
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

• Which sins didn’t Jesus die for?
• Can God forgive the sin of homosexuality?

This should cause to ask, “How does the world around us think?”
From a web site called O.school: By Danielle Campoamor

She quotes a pastor;
“I think homosexuality — being gay, or lesbian, or bi-sexual — I think those are gifts from God that we have received,” Pastor Paul Eldred at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Bellevue, Wash, tells O.school. Eldred is also a proud gay man. “I think the sin is denying that those are gifts from God. We try to say those are unholy, but I think the opposite is true.”

From: .prestonsprinkle.com (whatever that is)

“God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve… Most people under 40 don’t use this argument anymore, so I hesitate even addressing it. But it’s still hanging on in the fringes of conservative Christianity, so I want to go on record saying: don’t ever use this argument again. Just because the first human pair were male and female does not intrinsically mean that every single marriage after them must be between male and female. I mean, maybe Adam and Eve are an everlasting paradigm for marriage. I actually think they are in many ways. Indeed, I believe that Adam and Eve’s sex-difference lays the foundation for all future marriages (and Jesus thinks so too; Matt 19). But we get this from a detailed study of the text. We can’t just assume it to be true based on the mere existence of Adam and Eve as male and female. And the cute little rhythmic phrase “Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve” isn’t actually cute. It’s not funny either. It’s pretty dumb, actually. And it says more about the state of Evangelical thinking (and humor) than it does about sex difference in Christian anthropology.”

The world is so lost!

Leviticus 20:13
“If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.” (ESV)

For the most part, those who do not belong to God have no problem with the sin that is in their life, and then there are those who completely embrace their sin, regardless of how perverse it might be.

I Cor. 6:9
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,”

I Tim. 1:8-10
“We know that the law is good when used correctly. For the law was not intended for people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other murders. The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching.”

Homosexuality is not bad because it’s forbidden, it’s forbidden because it’s bad. This applies to all sin, sinful things are forbidden because it’s bad… thus it will destroy us as a society and as individuals.

We know that homosexuality is a sin, but let’s remember that sex between a man and a woman outside of marriage is a sin as well. Deeper yet, our thoughts can also get us in trouble.

Matthew 5:27–28
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Sin brings God’s judgment, and God’s judgment on the whole world is coming… and perhaps very soon.

Luke 17:26-28
“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all. And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building.”

As it is said, “If God’s judgment doesn’t come on San Francisco, He owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.”

We seem to be at a time in our country (and the world) when homosexuality is considered to be the norm. There was a time when it was taboo and off-limits on television, now, and frequently I might add, you’ll see two men kissing or two women kissing on programs and even commercials.

Jesus said an acceptance and celebration of homosexuality would be a sign of the very end of this age… before His return.

It’s the old story about the frog in the pot of boiling water, you turn on the heat gradually and he doesn’t notice when the water gets too hot. This is what has happened to America, it started over 60 years ago. Slowly but surely, the heat has been turned up… the family unit has been destroyed, and homosexuality has been ushered in… and the people who don’t know the Truth, didn’t even notice.

Rom. 1:27
“Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”

“And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.” (NLT)

Jon MacArthur; “There is a burning level of lust among homosexuals that defies description and is rarely known among heterosexuals. The homosexuals of Sodom were so passionately consumed with their lust that they ignored the fact that they had been made blind and “wearied themselves trying to find the doorway” into Lot’s house in order to pursue their vile passion (Gen. 19:11). Those ancient people were so morally perverse that in Scripture the name Sodom became a byword for immoral godlessness, and sodomy, a term derived from that name, became throughout history a synonym for homosexuality and other forms of deviation.”

(27) “Receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due”

There is a penalty that comes with homosexuality.

Studies have found that gay youth attempt suicide more than 3 times more frequently than their heterosexual counterparts.

Gay men have a higher risk of suicide than women although women attempt suicide more frequently.

Sexually-transmitted diseases/infections.

Gay and lesbian depression may be made worse due to interpersonal, religion and family rejection, societal stigma and internalized homophobia.

Research also shows that, compared to other men, gay and bisexual men have higher chances of having: Major depression, Bipolar disorder, and Generalized anxiety disorder.

As we saw in Sodom and Gomorrah, they burned with such lust for their sin, that they didn’t even realize they were blind.

None of these scriptures were enjoyable to study, but the lesson learned is, there’ nothing good for a life lived apart from the fellowship of God.

The good news is; The Good News, God saving grace… Jesus died for all our sins, not just some of them.

Rom. 10:13
“For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

We covered in the previous verses that, homosexuality is not bad because it’s forbidden, it’s forbidden because it’s bad. And we are seeing in verse 27, that because of their sin, “They suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.”

Homosexuality and all that comes with it, is in itself the punishment. Homosexuals can fly all the rainbow flags (stealing God’s sign of a covenant with man) they want and hold “Gay pride” parades, but deep down inside of them, they know their behavior is wrong and sinful.

The fruits of their sin reaps things like AIDS and other STD’s, depression, mental disorders, and suicide.

Rom. 1:28
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;”

“Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.” (NLT)

Psalm 10:4
“In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.” (NIV)

Rom. 9:18
“Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” (NIV)

God gave them over to a debased mind, He abandoned them to their foolish thinking. God let them go to do their own thing.

Exodus 7:3-4
“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. “When Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My armies, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments.” (NASV)

Some people think that God made Pharaoh’s heart hard, but Pharaoh’s heart was already hard, God gave up on him, as is the case here.

When God gives up on you, you are headed for complete and utter destruction. Verses 29 through 31 shows us this.

Rom. 1:29-31
“Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;”

I don’t need to describe what each sin is, the list is self-explanatory. These verses contain one of the most extensive lists of sins in God’s Word. It is a picture of man-kind’s moral depravity. The world around us will do its best to justify all of its sinful ways, but in the end, God will judge it all. They can say all they want, “There is no God, there is no hell,” that will never make it true.

Every one of these sins reveal our rebellious heart’s.

Rom. 1:32

“Who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. (NLT)

The righteous judgment of God

Rom. 2:2
“And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.

Rom. 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Rev. 20:15
“And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

All sobering verses.

Not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

Even worse, are those who blatantly sin against God, and want to drag other down with them. A society that openly condones and defends such evils as sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, and the rest, has reached the deepest level of corruption. These acts of sin are in direct contrast to the will of God.