Hi and welcome back. In our previous episode we left off with Romans 1:23.We talked about how creation had become more important than the Creator.
How man, despite the evidence that was set before him refused to believe there was a God. He put his faith in his own intellect. The Big bang theory is the result of man’s own wisdom. It became easier to believe that nothing created everything. Creation became the focus of worship rather than the Creator.
As a result of their distorted thinking their hearts became darkened and they turned to their own devices.
Which leads us into our next verse,
Romans 1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
God gave them over, God’s wrath was kindled against them and he gave them over.
In other words he abandoned them and let them fulfill the lusts of their flesh. It says their hearts were set on sexual impurity. Sexual impurity is any sexual relationship outside of marriage.
Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
When we have sex to fulfill the lust of the flesh we desecrate that Temple. We have put division between us and God.
1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
I know from my own experience the consequences of relationships outside of the covenant of marriage.
Before I came to Christ lust consumed me. For me sex and love were synonymous. I used sex to fill the void in my heart. But it was only temporary. I was truly like an addict. I needed another fix. I needed another sexual partner to make me feel good. It was a craving that led me to countless relationships that had no real meaning.
Once I came to Christ, sex and love no longer were one and the same. The love of Christ filled that void in my heart. Sex was no longer the focus of my life.
Romans 1:24 ends with, for the degrading of their bodies with one another. To use another human being to fulfill your sexual needs cheapens that relationship and is degrading.
I was no better. I would tell a woman whatever she wanted to hear just so I could share a bed with her.
I would say I love you at the drop of a hat. It was all about me. There was no substance to my relationships. Unless God is at the center of all that you say and do, your relationship is based on a lie.
Addiction has to start somewhere and with sex it starts with lust. We need to look at women with respect and not with a wandering eye that takes in her sensuality. We need to avert our eyes and not look at her as a sexual object.
Job 31:1 “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.
So let’s move on to Romans 1:25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
Again, because they had abandoned the truth about Him, He abandoned them and left them to their own devices. They worshiped the creation or the creature more than the Creator.
They did what pleased them and not what pleased God.
Our final verses for today are
Romans 1:26-28 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
Once again, God gave them up or abandoned them to their distorted way of thinking. Paul says there is going to be a penalty for their actions. He doesn’t spell out what that penalty is. But I would think it’s fair to say that HIV, STDs, and the like are possible manifestations of that penalty. Again this is only my opinion.
We are currently living in a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah.
It has become acceptable to have same sex relationships. Many argue that they have a natural tendency toward homosexuality. And I would argue that we all have a natural tendency to sin.
It’s only when we set aside what is natural and lean on the supernatural power of Christ that we can overcome the cravings of our flesh.
It seems that some Churches are starting to embrace gay marriage. Again this is not what God intended.
Jesus made it clear in,
Matthew 19:4-5 He answered, Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh?
The marriage covenant that God had ordained from the beginning has been manipulated into something it was never intended to be.
God wants us to procreate. That process of procreation has no place in a gay marriage. It is contrary to the will of God.
Genesis 9:7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
We’re going to stop for now. Next week we will wrap up chapter one.
I know that some who are listening may have strong feelings or emotions about today’s topic.
But we can’t allow our emotions to dictate how we are going to live for Christ. Christ gave His all on that cross and we should be willing to give our all for Him. We are all sinners and we all come short of the glory of God.
The only reason I am talking like this is because I care about my listeners. I love you. I wouldn’t want to see anyone in eternal separation from God. Because that’s what hell is.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Again thank you for listening.