The Exceeding Sinfulness of Sin
Romans 1:18-32
God’s Righteous Wrath - Verse 18
… From heaven against all ungodliness – Piety or irreverence for the true God
And unrighteousness of men – That is their sinful wickedness
Who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them
By both the Law delivered to the Jews and the conscience of man.
I am not offering a hypothesis here – the WHOLE WORLD knows that there is A GOD!
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse
Now there is a dichotomy – His invisible attributes are clearly seen!
What attributes – well, let’s start with God’s goodness. Something unseen, an attribute of God’s Holiness, all men know God’s goodness.
21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened
In genesis 3:22 we read…
Gen 3:22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil…”
Mankind knows both good and evil, just like God knows good and evil. God holds His knowledge in righteousness, but man holds his knowledge in unrighteousness.
It was not long after man became knowledgeable of sin that he found out he could not handle that knowledge…
Gen 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6 And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
Gen 6:7 So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them."
Cain Killed Able out of pride
Lamech killed a man who hurt him out of pride
The wickedness of man was great in the Earth and God was grieved in His Heart for creating mankind.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
The first instance of this type of Idolatry is recorded in the book of Genesis when Laban pursued after Jacob believeing that Jacob had stolen “His god’s” that is, his Idols.
Then again in Exodus 32 when Aaron made the golden calf.
In contrast to the “Just” who live by faith, we have the unjust who must walk by sight.
And for man’s idolatry there is always a consequence, because idlotrous men are ‘GIVEN UP’ by God for the destruction of their flesh.
Romans 1:24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
What is the idolatry here? Is it not the love of the human body? And because mankind worships the human body scripture says…
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 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.
Romans 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; 29 being filled with all…
Unrighteousness, *sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness;
Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness;
They are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, *unforgiving, unmerciful;
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.
G4909
συνευδοκέω
suneudokeō
Thayer Definition:
1) to be pleased together with, to approve together (with others)
2) to be pleased at the same time with, consent, agree to
2a) to applaud
Part of Speech: verb
They applaud sin! They agree with sin! They endorse sin!
Not only in their life but in the lives of others and yet we start out with God’s righteous wrath being poured out upon sin!
The consequence of man’s sinfulness is God’s righteous wrath. God knows good and evil and as God He can handle that knowledge and ALWAYS exercise the good. Man, on the other hand, who also KNOWS GOOD AND EVIL, cannot exercise the good, and therefore God will give him over to a reprobate mind allowing them to do those things that are evil – but not without consequence.
Remember Sodom and Gomorrah? Scripture says…
Gen 13:13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD.
Gen 19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth
Gen 19:2 and said, "My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way." They said, "No; we will spend the night in the town square."
Gen 19:3 But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Gen 19:4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house.
Gen 19:5 And they called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them." (That is that they may know them sexually)
Gen 19:6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him,
Gen 19:7 and said, "I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.
Gen 19:8 Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof."
Gen 19:9 But they said, "Stand back!" And they said, "This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them." Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down.
Gen 19:10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door.
Gen 19:11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.
Gen 19:12 Then the men said to Lot, "Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place.
Gen 19:13 For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it."
Gen 19:14 So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, "Up! Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
Gen 19:15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city."
Gen 19:16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.
Gen 19:17 And as they brought them out, one said, "Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away."
Gen 19:18 And Lot said to them, "Oh, no, my lords.
Gen 19:19 Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die.
Gen 19:20 Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there--is it not a little one?--and my life will be saved!"
Gen 19:21 He said to him, "Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.
Gen 19:22 Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
Gen 19:23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
Gen 19:24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven.
Gen 19:25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
Great sinners against the LORD is what Moses wrote in Genesis about the people of Sodom.
Sin-sodden homosexuals! Faggots! Freaks! Don’t they know better?
How sick and un-natural!
But Paul’s point is not to bash homosexuals, drunks, etc. but to expose the hypocrisy of us all for he says in 2:1…
God’s Righteous Judgment
2Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?
There was once a wise old man sitting at the gate of an ancient city. A young traveler stopped before entering the city and asked the old man, "What kind of people live in this town?" The wise man answered with a question, "What kind of people were in the town you just came from?"
"Oh, they were liars and cheats and thugs and drunks, terrible people," the young traveler replied. The old man shook his head, "The people in this town are the same way."
Later another stranger paused to ask the same question, and again the wise man questioned his questioner, "What kind of people did you just leave?"
The second traveler answered, "Oh, I left a fine town. The people were good and kind and honest and hardworking." The wise man smiled and said, "The people in this town are the same way."
People who are kind and forgiving toward others usually experience tolerance from others themselves; those who are harsh, censorious and critical toward others find that others exhibit much the same disposition toward them.
Of course, when our Lord warned, "Judge not," He was not talking about exposing the sins of the ungodly-we must do that. Neither was He talking about withdrawing from the immoral, or restoring erring Christians, or resolving civil disputes, or "knowing a tree by its fruits." He was forbidding illegitimate judgments that stem from a self-righteous, haughty, puffed-up, hypocritical spirit (Mat_7:15; Luk_6:37-38; Rom_2:1-3). He was forbidding judgments based on inadequate information (Joh_7:21-24). He was forbidding judgments in which the person assumes the position of God, trying and sentencing brethren in regard to eternal salvation (Jos_4:11-12; Rom_14:3-4, Rom_14:10, Rom_14:13; 1Co_4:5).
What kind of people live in your town? What kind of judgment do you judge others with? Do you count youself to be MORE SPIRITUAL because you have some special gift or knowledge? Or as Paul goes on to say in Romans 2:4
Romans 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His: Goodness, Forbearance, And longsuffering, Not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
A man once rose up in a meeting to give his testimony to the saving grace of God. He told how the Lord had won his heart and given deliverance from the guilt and power of sin. He spoke of Christ and His work but said nothing of any efforts of his own. The leader of the meeting was of a legalistic mind, and when this man’s testimony was ended he said, "Our brother has only told us of the Lord’s part in his salvation. When I was converted, there was a whole lot I had to do myself before I could expect the Lord to do anything for me. Brother, didn’t you do your part first before God did His?" The other was on his feet in an instant and replied, "Yes, sir, I clean forgot. I didn’t tell you about my part, did I? Well, I did my part for over 30 years, running away from God as fast as ever my sins could carry me. That was my part. And God took after me till He ran me down. That was His part."
It Is nothing more than the goodness and righteousness of God that pursues us, leading us to repentance.
As the prophet Hosea said of almighty Jehovah
Hos 11:4 I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.
Paul the Apostle is very much in tune with this “goodness of God leading one to repentance” when he writes in 2 Timothy 2:24…
2Ti 2:24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil,
2Ti 2:25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,
2Ti 2:26 and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
And contrary to those receiving repentance are those whose hearts are hardened by sin…
Romans 2:5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are *treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who "will render to each one according to his deeds":
7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Here is the difference between believing in God and Believing God. That is, OBEYING THE TRUTH - the just shall live by faith right? But SAVING faith GIVES YOU THE HEART OF OBEDIENCE that you BELIEVE GOD not JUST that you BELIEVE IN GOD.
The world THAT BELIEVES IN GOD is without excuse.
21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Jam 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
Jam 2:2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
Jam 2:3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
Jam 2:4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
Jam 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
Jam 2:6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
Jam 2:7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
Jam 2:8 If ye fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well:
Jam 2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
Jam 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Jam 2:11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
Jam 2:12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
Jam 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
Jam 2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
Jam 2:15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
Jam 2:16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Jam 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Jam 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.
Jam 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
Jam 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Jam 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Jam 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
Jam 2:23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Jam 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Jam 2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
Jam 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
