Pastor’s Pen Pulpit                                                                                                                                           Romans

January 15, 2006                                                                                                                                       #13 in series

 

SALVATION NEEDED AS SEEN IN THE FACT

 OF UNIVERSAL SIN 

(Romans 1:18-3:20)

 

In this section we will examine three segments of the human race:  THE HEATHEN, THE HYPOCRITE AND THE HEBREWS

 

THE HEATHEN NEED THE GOSPEL

Romans 1:18-32

Part One

 

Webster’s dictionary defines heathen as “an unconverted member of a people or nation that does not acknowledge the God of the Bible.”

 

The Revelation of the Wrath of God – v.18  The wrath of God has been defined as the personal manifestation of God’s holy, moral character in judgment against sin.  Wrath is neither an impersonal process nor irrational and fitful-like anger.  It is in no way vindictive or malicious.  It is holy indignation – God’s anger directed against sin.  The reasons for God’s wrath against the heathen are four-fold in this chapter.

 

1.   Because of Man’s Suppression of the Truth v.19,20    “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

 

This section drops down out of verse 18 where Paul tells us that men hold down the truth of God in unrighteousness.  It is not as though man is ignorant of God’s truth.  Yes, mankind everywhere knows that God exists – but in that knowledge, the truth of His existence is suppressed.  He tells us that certain things about God may be perceived for God has shown these things to man. This is called general revelation.  He then explains the essence of that knowledge.  His invisible attributes are clearly seen within creation.  Question?  How can something invisible be clearly seen?  The answer:  being understood by what has been made.  These attributes are, His eternal power and divine nature. 

 

God’s salvation is not revealed in creation.  However His existance is clearly revealed cf Psalm 19:1-6.   Thus mankind is without excuse. .  Hence man will never be able to stand before the God of this universe and claim that they never knew that He existed.  General revelation cannot save man.  However it does render him highly acccountable  We will see later that the Scriptures teach that men will be judged -(not saved)  on the basis of the amount of light they have received cf Romans 2: 6-11 which reveals that  a person’s habitual conduct, whether good or evil, reveals the condition of his heart.

 

2.   Because of Man’s Rejection of God vs. 21, 22  “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and  their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools….”  

 

To what extent did man know God?  That knowledge is clearly explained in verses 18-20.  The Bible teaches that knowledge creates responsibility.   The more we know about God the more responsible we are to live up to that knowledge.  But just how did humanity respond to that knowledge?  Look at verse 21 - “For even though they knew  God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”  They did not respond positively.  In fact men turned away from the light they had - cf John 3:19.  Men did not receive Him for who He is, but they rejected Him while knowing that He exists.  To put it more succinctly:  The universal willful rejction of God is evident in the history of mankind.  God revealed Himself – but man rejected that basic revelation.

 

The downward path is quite tragic.  Irreverance  “glorified Him not as God” gives birth to ingratitude  “neither were  thankful.”  This in turn begets rationalism  “They became futile  in their imagination” - which is followed by spiritual blindness, “their foolish heart was darkened.”  Furthermore, they were filled with intellectual pride.  “professing themelves to be wise, they became fools .” 

 

APPLICATION:   Men may not be willing to hear what God says to them in His Word,  never-the-less God has ordained that the human race does SEE Him speak to them in His creation.  Therefore they become highly accountable.  Lets take a brief look at Psalm 19:1-4 in the NIV:

 

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

There is no speech or language where their VOICE is not heard

Their VOICE goes out into all the earth.

Their WORDS  to the ends of the world.

 

So we see that it’s quite clear that God does communicate His existance to mankind, leaving him no excuse for not recognizing His existance.  But what does the human race do with this knowledge?  We’ll have to wait until next pen pulpit to learn that response.

 

To those of us who have trusted Christ as our Savior, let us rejoice that our God has put all of this together out of His great wisdom and power.  The creation also provides us with a point of contact with our unsaved friends.  God bless and have a wonderful week. 

 

Love to all of you,