Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
The other day, I heard a great lecture on the book of “Romans” that really brought excellent clarity to the gospel of Salvation and the reasons why we all need Christ. He spoke of how, in the Christian world today, we are being conditioned to believe that there is no such thing as Divine wrath. And if there is just a loving God that forgives all with no such a thing as Divine wrath, that that is the reason that people do not get very excited about the gospel anymore. Who needs a Savior and why? The gospel is only “good news” when it is understood against the backdrop of the “bad news” of sin and its consequences, which includes the wrath of God being revealed against all mankind (Romans 1:18), before hearing about what God did through Chris for us, to make sense. God’s wrath is against the specific sin of godless and wicked suppression of the truth of God, which He has plainly manifested and clearly communicated to every single one of His creatures through His creation (Romans 1:19-20). The excuse on the Day of Judgment will be: “God, I didn't know you were there. I didn't see you. I didn't make the connection between the world around me and you as the Creator, so I hope you forgive my lack of drawing the proper conclusion from the evidence before my eyes.” Not only is the revelation of God given to every single person, but that revelation gets through, so we are without excuse.
There is no such thing as an “honest” Atheist, because knowing God they refused to glorify Him or give Him thanks (Romans 1:21). The two most fundamental reactions of sin against the display of God’s glory through natural revelation is the refusal of the obstinate heart of fallen humanity to honor God as God and to not be grateful. They instead exchange the truth for a lie and serve the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever (Romans 1:25). So the gospel comes into a world that is already under the indictment and judgment of Almighty God.
A question you hear all the time is; “What about the poor, innocent native in Africa , who has never heard of Jesus?” The answer is that the poor, innocent native in Africa , who dies goes straight to heaven. That poor, innocent native does not need Jesus, so leave him alone. I wouldn't spend any time reaching out to the poor, innocent native in Africa for salvation because that person doesn't need it. The only people who need salvation are “guilty” people. Now, if you ask: “What happens to the guilty people in Africa , who haven’t heard of Jesus?”, they’re in deep trouble. They are not in trouble for rejecting Jesus, whom they have never heard if. The fact is that there are no innocent natives in Africa or anywhere else in the world, because the whole world receives the plain revelation of God. Everyone has it and everyone distorts it. Everyone exchanges the truth of God for some kind of an idol. So the universal religion of fallen humanity is Idolatry, so God is moved to wrath against what fallen creatures do against the glory of His majesty by serving idols rather than Him. Then God gives them over to their heinous lusts of their depraved, reprobate minds (Romans 1:24-30).
Then God gives them over to their hennas lusts of their depraved, reprobate minds (Romans 1:24-30). These people knowing the righteous judgment of God, those who practice such things are deserving death, not only do them, but they approve of others who do them (Romans 1:32). Misery loves company. One of the ways that people seek to ease their conscience, when we know that we are living in violation of the law of God, is to encourage others to do what we are doing, because the more that are engaged in it, then the more “normal” it becomes. The more normal it becomes, the less sinful it seems and we say: “After all, this is natural for us to behave in this manner.” Well, it is! Nothing comes more naturally to fallen humanity than sin. The sinfulness of our sin is shown in that we try to defend our sin as if it were legitimate and give approval to others that participate in the same sins that we do. Thinking that God is going to have to rule by referendum and that He is going to have to change His law and character to accommodate our sinful practices.
Due to the length of this great lecture's notes, I'm going to have to split this post into two messages and deliver the concluding "good news" next time. May the Word of God be a true light in your life, and the Light of the World. And by seeing the light, we expose the darkness, so we can see the truth and get on the "right" road. Shine your light.
In Christ, Brian
2 comments:
Hi Brian,
There is no excuse for not knowing and accepting God. We are all born with the knowledge of Him. Jeremiah 31:33-34 33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”
There is no excuse for not knowing God.
Last week I had a really interesting talk with an atheist on twitter. His main goal and purpose, he told me, was to plant seeds of doubt into my mind. He was rude, sneaky and continually contradicting himself on so many accounts. I wish I was better and quicker at using his point against him, but, as you know, words are not my strongest point. So, I just trusted Father to take my case and defend me and He did. :)
If a person does not want to know God then no matter how we try to explain to them the awesomeness of Father, they just won't see it because they have allowed their stupidity blind them.
Blessings Brian,
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Child of God, The problem of sin is a global epidemic and Christ is the cure. God has placed "eternal" upon every one of His creatures hearts and His fingerprints all over His Creation, but that which is spiritually discerned, the unregenerate heart is blind to in the darkness of unbelief. Their battle truly is with the Lord, not you. It is His children that bring the light of TRUTH into the darkness of this world and plant the seeds of the Word of God, but it is the Holy Spirit that does the real work of transformation and salvation. Seeking to know the Lord more and follow Him (aligned with His Holy Word, Will & Way) in righteousness and love, we stand firm in this battle for souls. Keep your eyes upon Jesus, the Perfecter of our faith. Blessings.
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