God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who
suppress the truth by their wickedness.
They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.
I think we have taken God too lightly
for too long! Doing so not only keeps us
from the greatest truth about his love for us but also the great truth about
his view of sin. He is pissed about
it. (There I said it!) If we take God
seriously, we should be afraid of His anger about sin. I can see the dismissal of God’s place and
power when we reduce sin to inconsequential definitions which minimize its
impact on God and the consequences He intends for it.
The rest of this chapter lists
the litany of sins which result from the character traits of “sinful” and “wicked.” The list which follows stems from the
inherent descriptions of these two words.
“Sinful” is translated in the King James as “ungodliness,” which, in the
Greek, means a lack of reverence for God.
This seems to indicate a “not God” attitude, which doesn’t include God nor
give credit to God and reduces God as if he isn’t looking or cares about bad
behavior. “Wicked” is translated in the
King James as “unrighteousness,” which is a lifestyle of injustice – acts which
violate God’s law and justice. It is a
lifestyle of deeds against humanity.
This addresses the conscious and
deliberate act and lifestyle of rejecting God’s place and due honor and refusing
His ways. God lets people have their way
when they choose to ignore Him. He lets
us tell ourselves the lies, which then rule in us. That is what wickedness does. It purports lies that cause us to deny the
significance of God and his plan for us.
Refusing to worship God causes people’s lives to trivialize and fall
into confusion. They bear the weight of
a life removed from truth and its covering, from God himself, and, thus, dismissed
from the sanctity of life as God intended. People exchange the truth of God for a lie that denies not only God, but
their own significance and purpose.
How often we hold onto the world’s
lies over God’s truth! We can see it
heightened and devolving in American culture.
Wickedness in inappropriate sexual behavior and demoralizing violence is
extolled by the media, no matter what injustice it brings. We are completely saturated a the culture
which promotes wandering sexuality, enacting violence on others (read anything
from the NRA and its supporters) and the absence of God in any public
discourse. The overt lies get translated
to individuals in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. People, whether male or female, do not think
they measure to their gender’s standards.
Social media is used to bully. Families
perpetuate violence from generation to generation. It seems unabated.
I have to live in this culture. I benefit from the culture. How can I be sure I do not participate in its
wickedness? I am selective about what movies
I watch and music to which I listen and by not copying any of the language
associated with either. I live out wholesome
sexuality. I do not participate in
violence, including murderous threats and accusations.
These may seem obvious or simple,
but how easy is it for someone to say about a shoot-em-up movie, “It’s just a
movie.” Or about certain kinds of sexualized lyrics, “It’s good ole’
rock-n-roll.” How pure are your thoughts
about your marriage partner or how you live out celibacy, if single? In light of great harm done by others against
us, how easy is it to devise harm in return?
God will stand for none of
it! The rest of chapter one of Romans
tells of the opportunities He gives for people of the world to see Him and, when they refuse, lets people live their lies out, as if they are true. He abandons them, which might be the greatest
punishment of all. That abandonment can
be seen in the description of “sins” in Romans 1:25-32. It is “normalized” culture today. The lie has become true.
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