Romans 1:16-23 “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.’ For the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and
unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in
unrighteousness, because what may be known of God
is manifest in them, for God has shown it to
them. 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, 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. Professing to be
wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God
into an image made like corruptible man.”
Michael continues that in Romans 1, they knew God, but would not honor God as God. They exchanged the glory of God for the
corruptible images of created things. They turned their back on God and
worshiped the creation instead of the Creator. They deliberately rebelled
against the purposes for which God had created them. They became falsely wise
in their own conceits. Therefore God gave them over to sin and darkness. They
fell so far that they deliberately defied God's hard-wiring and hard-plumbing.
Those who are without God are
without hope and are not interested in keeping the laws of God. The
lawless are corrupt in their own hearts to the point that they're convinced
they're right and righteous by ignoring God. They are blinded to the evil
they commit because they reject God’s standards. However, Christians are
an example of the love of God. The Bible says that love covers a multitude
of sins. Muslim jihadists often say that "Christians are our best
friends. Why? Because, when we kill them, they forgive us."
Ironically, there is an explosion of underground Christianity in the Muslim
world as many are accepting salvation through Christ the Savior. The darker the
night, the brighter the light shines. The truth of the gospel exposes the stark
contrast between the love of God and malicious hatred anywhere. According to
Joseph in Genesis, "What men
meant for evil, God meant for good." Romans 2 says that it is
the goodness of God (not the wrath of God) that calls mankind to
repentance. Therefore, as according to Romans 12, "be not overcome with evil but overcome evil with
good." Being a Christian is not what you do; it is who you are and whose you are.
The question for America is,
"would you rather save America, or would you rather save souls for
Heaven’s sake?" What is the priority order? As Christians and people of God, we must remember
that we hold dual citizenship. Are we American Christians or are we Christian
Americans? Moral issues have become political issues. Is it legal or illegal to
live in conviction of biblical standards, virtues and God’s commandments? You
can't win an argument with the devil. Arguing is a lose-lose proposition.
According to Paul, foolish and unlearned
questions avoid, for they do engender strife.
Let's conclude Michael's message on "good and Evil" in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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