The theme of the Apostle Paul’s inspired letter to the followers of Christ at Rome is that, “…the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16 NIV) However, this raises a question. Why do we need to be saved? And, from what do we need to be saved?
In verses 18 through 32 of chapter 1, Paul answers these questions. He writes, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse. Because, knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers, backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.”
There are many people who claim that God does not exist. Others claim that God is unknowable. Still others will say that God has no claim on our lives and, therefore, it doesn’t matter what we do. Paul points out that people who say such things are without excuse. Why? Because God has made Himself, and his standards, known to us. All we have to do is to look at nature to understand God’s eternal power and divine nature. As King David wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.” (Psalm 19:1-2 NIV)
If the truth about God is plain to see, then why do people deny Him? Why do they choose godlessness and wickedness? Paul writes that turning away from God follows a pattern. The first stage in this process is to suppress the truth. What this means is that people don’t know the truth about God because they do not want to know. There is plenty of evidence to convince us of the truth provided our minds are open to it. But it is often easier to suppress and deny the truth than to accept the consequences of acknowledging it. Jesus said, “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” (John 3:20 NIV) This is one reason why many claim that the Bible has been changed and is full of errors. If they acknowledged the truth about the Bible, it would expose their own wickedness.
Another stage in the process of turning away from God is to deny Him the glory He deserves. This means that we do not acknowledge God’s greatness, we do not love Him as we ought, nor do we put His interests ahead of our own.
Another stage in the process is to not give God thanks. By giving thanks we acknowledge that the blessings we have come from God. Not giving thanks is to deny the source of our blessings; we make the claim that what we have is the result of our own efforts.
But turning away from God comes with a cost. If we suppress the truth, will not glorify God or give Him thanks, we can no longer reason as we should. Our thinking becomes empty and worthless. We lose the understanding we once had. It is as though we are groping in the dark. Though we may have all sorts of knowledge and consider ourselves wise, we become fools.
In addition to the three stages of turning away from God, Paul also mentions three sets of actions and consequences of turning away from Him. The first set of actions is to exchange God’s glory for images of man, birds and beasts. There is something within man which desires to worship. If we reject God, we will fill that void with something else. The consequence of worshiping something else besides God is that God “gives us over”. This means that God no longer shields us from evil but allows us to follow the path we have chosen. One result is that we fall into sexual impurity.
The second set of actions and consequences Paul mentions is similar to the first. It is to exchange truth of God for a lie. Later in the book Paul writes that God is true (Romans 3:4). When we reject God, we reject truth. Therefore, it is inevitable that we will embrace a lie. Since we are designed to worship, we end up worshiping something which God has created rather than the Creator, Himself. Once again, the consequence of our decision is that God “gives us over” to shameful lusts. These lusts result in homosexuality and other unnatural sexual perversions.
The third action Paul mentions is to decide not retain the knowledge of God. The consequence of this decision is that God “gives us over” to depravity. If we turn away from good, correct and wholesome thinking, there is no alternative except wrong and corrupt ways of thinking. This results in the evil Paul mentions – envy, murder, deceit, pride, gossip, slander, boasting, disobedience, and the like. In addition, we not only excuse what we do, we approve the same actions in others, even though we know God has condemned these things.