Once for All

There is a legend about an unusual work of modern art back in the 1980s-a chair affixed to a shotgun. It was to be viewed by sitting in the chair and looking directly into the gun barrel. The gun was loaded and set on a timer to fire at an undetermined moment. People were told that it could happen at any time in the next 100 years.

The legend claims people waited in lines to sit and stare into the shell's path! They all knew that the gun could go off at point-blank range at any moment, but they were gambling that the fatal blast wouldn't happen during their minute in the chair.

There is no way to know if this legend was true. It seems unreal that anyone would knowingly risk their life like this. Yet we know that millions of people are living their lives just like that day after day. They know the truth, that the hammer could fall at any moment and then it will be too late, but they continue to sit and stare down the face of that truth without any attempt to move.

Last week we learned that Paul was called by God, committed to the church in Rome, and convinced of the power of the gospel of Jesus. Today we focus on the fact that the gospel is meant for everyone, because everyone needs the gospel. Look at Romans 1:19, 20 (HCSB).

Since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. 

No Excuse

Paul said that God’s invisible attributes, eternal power, and divine nature are easy to see in the world that God has created. The variety of life, the complexity of life, and the frailty of life are all signs of a Creator. Therefore, there is no excuse for those who refuse to believe in God.

In a recent PEW research, they found that more than 50% of scientists in fields of biology, chemistry, physics, and astronomy claimed to believe in God or an intelligent designer. In other words, they believe that the world had to have a creator and was not the result of some random event. This number has decreased over the years in areas that deal with more theoretical science, yet remains strong among scientists that deal daily with the visible scientific facts of our planet.

Yet we live in a time when the intellectuals believe that they are too smart to be dependent on a belief in some unknown, unseen, invisible god. The wealthy believe that they have no need for a god because they have money to pay for anything they need. The world has shut the door on God. Rome at the time of Paul was in a very similar situation. Roman citizens had more access to education and money than the rest of the world and for the most part they had abandoned their need for a god.

Paul was helping the church in Rome to see that what they believed, the God that they had accepted and chosen to follow, is not only natural, but is proven by creation itself. God had already found them guilty whether they believed in Him or not. God holds all accountable, so there is no excuse. Now look at Romans 1:21-25 (HCSB).

For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.

No Sense

In the past people were much more likely to look at the world and see that it was created by God. Paul says that they knew God, but that they chose not to glorify Him. Many ancient religions were started in places where they had never heard about our Bible, and while God’s creation was revealing Him to them, they chose to create their own gods. Instead of seeking out the One True God, they chose to create gods based on the power of volcanoes, the wind, the sun, and even the seasons.

The took attributes of God’s power and made little gods out of them. Paul said that God delivered them over to the cravings of their hearts, so that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie. They worshipped something created rather than worshipping the Creator.

This is something that is still seen around the world, including in the United States. We may not worship little wooden idols, but many people worship things other than God: sports, money, power, addictions, etc. We see that the world has just as little sense as it did during the time of Paul 2000 years ago. For all of our increased knowledge, we are no wiser. Let’s look at Romans 1:26-32 (HCSB).

This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions. For even their females exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. The males in the same way also left natural relations with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error.
And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know full well God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.

No Shame

In this section of Romans 1, Paul lists some of the many sins that people were known to have accepted as natural. Romans 1:24 says that God delivered them over to their passions. The Greek word used here is paradidomi, which means that there was an active role played. God does not just step out of the way and allow them to fall deeper into a sinful life fueled by their lusts and passions, but rather God actively delivers them as a judge would deliver a convicted criminal over to the prison guards. In other words, the sinful actions of the people of Rome resulted in God handing them over to be prisoners of their sin.

It is clear from this passage that people did not just sin, but that they reveled in their sin. They celebrated their sinful lifestyle. They bragged about it. They had no shame. I personally believe that it is more important to understand the results of these sins rather than focus on the list of the sins. Their continual sinful lifestyles dragged them deeper and deeper into a love of the sin. Their love of the sin led them to encourage others to join them in their sin and they even applauded them when they sinned.

Many people like to focus on one sin listed here: homosexuality. Clearly the Bible shows that sexual relations with an individual of the same sex is sin. But look at some of the other sins listed here as well: greed, envy, quarrels, deceit, gossip, arrogance, disobedience to parents, and having no mercy. Paul shows that the God given penalty for every one of these sins was the same: death. God has said that you deserve the same penalty for disobeying your parents as for those that engage in homosexuality. Wow! That is a stiff penalty. Look at Romans 3:9-12 (HCSB)

What then? Are we any better? Not at all! For we have previously charged that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin, as it is written:
There is no one righteous, not even one.
There is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away;
all alike have become useless.
There is no one who does what is good,
not even one.

The understanding here is that we are all guilty of sin and that we all deserve the same penalty for our sin. Paul was not simply throwing stones at the sinful Romans or the homosexuals or the murderers. Paul said that we all are condemned equally. Romans 3:23 (HCSB) “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”1 John 1:8 (HCSB) “If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

We are all guilty and God says we all deserve death. Romans 6:23 (HCSB) “For the wages of sin is death.” Thankfully that is not the end of the story. In fact, there is more to that very verse. Listen, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I am thankful that God did not simply deliver us over to our sin, but also provided a way for us to turn from our sin and turn back to Him. And the best news is that it is a gift. A free gift. The gift of eternal life with God in heaven.

A gift is not something we deserve. It is something that is given in spite of who we are and what we have done. But a gift is only useful if we accept the gift. When Jesus died on the cross, He took our place. He paid the price; the wage and the penalty for our sins. All that we have to do is ask God to forgive us of our sins, turn from our sins and turn to God, and allow God to be the boss of our lives.

Have you done that? If not, you need to come and talk to me today. The longer you allow your sin to continue, the more entrenched you will become in that sin. The longer you refuse to admit that your sin is wrong, the more you will begin to love and seek out that sin and even worse sins. Sin drags you down, but God is offering you a gift that will lift you up out of the muck and mire that has imprisoned you.