Unashamed of the Gospel
God’s Righteous Requirement versus Man’s Corrupt Celebration
Roman 1:18-32
Turn in your Bibles to Romans 1. I don’t know if you read verses 18-32 this week, but it is a passage that is hard to pull apart as it flows so smoothly. I have mentioned to you before that the first thing I will usually do when studying a passage is to print it out and then go over it and try to organize some thoughts to get myself started. And there are so may ways of going with a passage like this, and it easily could be four to five sermons, but I wish to share what the lord has placed on my heart this morning. So, let’s read through it and ask the obvious questions that it really answers as it goes along. This passage is also on the heels of the two famous verses we have already studied. Two verses that declare such a positive message.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous will live by faith.”
Romans 1:16-17 (LSB)
And then you will notice that Paul will now completely go in a different direction, as he will introduce to us the wrath of God. Verse 18, “For the wrath of God is revealed.” And the obvious question would be: Why the wrath of God, what caused it? Well, Paul will tell us:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
Romans 1:18 (LSB)
So, what caused it—ungodliness, unrighteousness, the suppression of truth. The next question would be What truth did they did they suppress?
“[B]ecause that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”
Romans 1:19 (LSB)
What did they suppress? The knowledge they had about God, for notice that it was evident in them. And then we might want to ask Paul, Could you explain this further?
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”
Romans 1:20-23 (LSB)
Two things we learn here is that man is without excuse because of the things he knows, but it says that “man became a fool.” Not “stupid” as man is amazingly smart. But what I notice is that man has so much intelligence in so many areas of life, until it comes in contact or until it rubs up against spiritual matters, and this is where seems to greatly fail. So, because of this suppression of truth, What did God do? He did three things.
“Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions; for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the males abandoned the natural function of the female and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not proper, having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,30 slanderers, haters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful.”
Romans 1:24-31 (LSB)
And then Paul will conclude with a summary statement of this unfortunate series of events.
“[A]nd although they know the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”
Romans 1:32 (LSB)
I find this a very difficult passage, and I hope you do as well, as it is extremely sad. In fact, part of me does not like this passage. Why? Because we do not see this occurring in all cultures today or throughout history, but we seem to find ourselves in the middle of such a culture. Which means that is some cultures, God’s controlling hand is heavier; and in other cultures—like the one described here—the controlling hand of God over mankind in some areas of sin has been made lighter or has been lifted. And I don’t know about you, but that places a massive lump in my throat, knowing that not all cultures are like this, though all are sinful. But not all have gone this far, and not all have been allowed by God to go this far. But this is where we find ourselves. And I do believe we must always be compassionate and kind in our world, but we do lament such a culture and such a movement, don’t we? As the evidence of this sin described in this passage is not merely popping up in small unseen corners somewhere but is becoming front and centre now to a new culture that is embracing these things. And not in the name of sin, but in the name of true love and acceptance.
You know I enjoy hockey and I find it hard when I hear of some of the things that go on in the world of sports. Yet the conduct of some of those who have become so famous in sports, it can be sickening at times. And it makes me angry because there is something about sports and activity that can bring so much honour to God. Who could forget Eric Liddell? At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, Liddell refused to run in the heats for his favoured 100 metres because they were held on a Sunday. Instead he competed in the 400 metres held on a weekday, [not his best event] but a race that he won in record time. He became ordained as a Congregational minister in 1932 and regularly taught Bible classes at Morningside Congregational Church, Edinburgh. He returned to China in 1925 and served as a missionary teacher. Aside from two furloughs in Scotland, he remained in China until his death in a Japanese civilian internment camp in 1945 at the age of 43. So, we may lament, where are the Eric Liddell’s? Lord, where are the Danial’s? where are the Joseph’s?
Yet we read of the events of the Canadian Junior hockey team in 2018 when they won gold against the Swedes. But then later on there were charges that came out of sexual assault. And that has been an ongoing news event ever since from a number of players on that team. And of course, the Olympics this year. I always enjoy following both the women and the men especially in hockey. And some of you may be familiar with Marie-Philip Poulin, who is known as Captain Canada or Captain Clutch on the ladies’ hockey team. She has played in five Olympic events, three where she won gold in 2010, 2014, and 2022; and silver in 2018, and 2026. And when interviewed she is quick to say that she has a passion to inspire young girls to play hockey and love the sport and obviously has been a great player for many years. But something I had not known before, and that is she is married to one of the other women on her team. And when I read that my heart just sank. And I know that this is out there, but it does not relieve the sadness that we feel for the lostness of our world. She was interviewed on CBC where her relationship with her “wife” was celebrated. And it just reminded of the here of Paul (vs 32) “but [they] also give hearty approval to those who practice such things.” I find this to be so heavy.
So, because we see the direction of our society it has become glaringly apparent that God has “given over” our culture, and I believe our heart prayer is, “Lord, don’t give over our culture!” And so, I believe as a church family, we must begin with the question, what caused all this or what started all this? And here is the answer:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
Romans 1:18 (LSB)
So, I want to ask the question, how do we that, how do we suppress the truth? You may have some ideas about this but let me give some thoughts. And at this point when I am asking the question, I am directing the question toward us. So, how do we suppress the truth? I would say that one, just be being lazy or indifferent. Humanly lazy toward spiritual things. In other words, if God’s truth is contained in God’s Word and we do not study it, our human tendency is to move some distance from the truth due to the lack of our passion for the truth. When the psalmist said that “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path,” the insinuation was that it meant a daily light, as biblical truth and biblical light are not something we learn and can rest in, only to leave alone. It is something that must be attended to daily. The Christians in Thessalonica, called the Bereans, received the Word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were true. The Word of God was David’s delight, and he meditated on it day and night. Paul told Timothy to keep a close watch on teaching and persist in this Timothy. Why? So, that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine. As man shall not live by bread alone, but from every word that comes from the mouth of God. So, being guilty of being lazy in our study of truth causes us to suppress it or as my Dad used to pray, Lord, may I never be indifferent towards You.
But I would also say we suppress the truth by not taking God’s Word at face value. That the warnings, teachings, foundations are not rejected, but they are no longer dynamic or striking enough that we take sharp notice of them. Paul warned Timothy about this as well.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.”
2 Timothy 4:3 (LSB)
And we may tend to deflect this verse to others, but we need to ask ourselves, am I a real listener of sound doctrine? And I am not talking here about simply knowing all the doctrines intellectually, but do I allow sound doctrine to convict my heart? For sound doctrine really warns of many of the great dangers in life. True, we may be quick to be warned of the things of the world. We might be quick to be warned about news events or financial cautions, being careful to be cautious about career decisions and expenses—all good. But the world does that too. Many of them very badly, but many of them very well. But that has little to do with to do with sound doctrine.
I believe I related a story to you before about a young girl away at university. And she is on the phone with Dad and he is asking her how she is doing. And she says, well I have been here for a month but have been so busy, I haven’t had a chance yet to get to church. And he says, well, try your best sweetie as church is very important. And then he says, how is school going? And she says, well, not that great as I have missed some classes and haven’t done well on some tests, in fact, I have been so busy that I missed a test. And he says, what? do you know how much money this is costing your Mom and me! And we know the importance of wise living and working hard at work and hard at school—please do not misread me here, but the even greater importance of truth and God’s Word and fellowship. And I have used the illustration of school and money, but sometimes we might even place things that really have no value over sound doctrine.
It would be like having a little guy who is playing in the street and seeing a transport coming and not warning him. But then seeing a balloon blowing down the road and yelling, look out! And I know I am exaggerating here, but, in this passage, we are reading about the wrath of God, and we must consider how much this is a warning to us. Because if the warning of the wrath of God is not like a transport ready to drive over me to completely destroy me I will have little urgency for the gospel, I will have little knowledge of my fallen human condition, and I will have little understanding of the great love of God to rescue me. And this all comes from not taking God’s Word at face value, not valuing every word of God’s wisdom, direction, and warnings that are so critical for life.
And then we supress truth simply by sinning. As every time we sin, we suppress the truth. And in this case, we are more guilty than the culture, because the culture must fight against their conscience. But often the culture has no knowledge or understanding of God’s Word, whereas we must fight both against our conscience and God’s Word. So, we must consider these things, as we cannot look at our world as sort us against them or as I have said before the good guys versus the bad guys. No, this is a removing of God’s hand. And it has happened within our culture so that He has chosen to give over those who we live alongside of, and some of them we care for greatly. So, this becomes a great problem for not only the culture, but for us. Think of the warnings to us as we live in such a culture, warnings of not balloons flying down the street, but transports.
- Romans 12:2 … “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
- 1 John 2:15-17 … “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts.”
- 1 Peter 2:9 … “But you are a chosen family, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
- James 4:4 … “[D]o you not know that friendship with the world is enmity toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:17 … “‘Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord [get off the road! get off the road!] ‘And do not touch what is unclean.’”
Laziness and indifference, not taking God’s Word at face value, and sin causes us to suppress the truth. But where does this lead our culture? Well, we know this passage quite well. So, what I wish to do this morning is to leave you with six lessons. Three of them about God and three of them about man. And they progress from God’s righteous requirement to man’s corrupt celebration.
- God has provided a witness in creation.
The psalmist wrote:
“The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And the expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world.”
Psalms 19:1-4a (LSB)
That is an argument for God to all mankind. That God expects man to acknowledge Him and His creation. And because man should see this as God’s creation, Paul says that man, you are now without excuse. And if man does not acknowledge creation, man will soon reject everything about God, and we see that more and more. In other words, if you do not believe that everything that exists comes from God’s hand, it will cause you to question everything in life. And sooner or later everything becomes chance; and therefore, life has no authority other than man and therefore man has no responsibility.
See, creation teaches us so much of the goodness of God, the beauty of God, and when we acknowledge a Creator, we also acknowledge a responsibility to that Creator. And notice it says there that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, because we exist under heaven, as the authority up in heaven controls what happens on earth. See, the “wow” of creation, results in a “wow” in the Creator. But to look at creation as natural chance means a “wow” in absolutely nothing, except maybe a “wow” in some kind of freak accident. Mom and Dad, good to always use language that directs praise and the reason for God. That God created such a beautiful day. He caused the magnificent sunset. God brought the rain. God brought the storm. God did it all. For God has provided a witness in creation.
- God has His hand on creation including mankind.
What we learn from this passage when it says that God gave them over teaches us the opposite of that. That if God gave them over, the insinuation was that God is influencing in a different way prior to this. That God must have some kind of restraining ministry. We know that God controls the world in a physical sense. Colossians 1 says:
“For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, And in Him all things hold together.”
Colossians 1:16-17 (LSB)
So, we would also understand that God limits the steps of man as He holds together the planets and the seasons and the birds and the fish and the volcanoes and the earthquakes. Remember Job said that God allows the waters to go so far and no further! So, here in this passage, He allows mankind to go beyond where He had allowed mankind to go previously. Good for us to always be thankful that God has not completely given man over, for if God did, we would see the full measure of man’s total depravity if it were not for the goodness of God to say “no, you can’t go there!” But do you ever think of that? Where would man be if God completely removed Himself? One, our universe would end in seconds without His oversight. But even if God kept control of the physical world and left man to himself—complete chaos and destruction, and it would include us. God has His hand on creation including mankind.
- God warns of the removal of His restraining hand.
Look at some of the words in this passage even prior to God giving them over: (vs 18) ungodliness, unrighteousness, suppression of truth, (vs 21) unthankfulness, futile, foolish, darkened, and (vs 23) corruptible. And this is prior to God giving them over. Just back a few years ago, some of the things that go on today were frowned upon by the culture. When Anne and I lived in Blind River, only 15 years ago, the north was by no means conservative—but I remember that minor hockey on their registration had the question, what would you like to be called, a boy or girl? And many unchristian parents were really upset. However, the new culture is now growing up with far less exposure to the truth of the Bible and far less resistant to the new truth taught today, and therefore, their concept of human relations is much different. The thought of someone living with a homosexual lifestyle today, and that we would consider that to be sin, would appear to them to be extremely judgmental. So, now Paul uses other words to describe what the world looks like after is has been given over: (vs 24) lust, impurity, dishonour of their bodies, (vs 25) lies, (vs 26) dishonourable passions, (vs 27) indecent acts, (vs 28) unfit minds, things that are not proper. And it is almost like Paul cannot stop there:
“[H]aving been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful.”
Romans 1:29-31 (LSB)
Yes, God warns of the removal of His restraining hand. Fourthly, now statements about man:
- Man has chosen to reject God and his own conscience.
Know that those who kill babies or cheat on their spouse, know their guilt, but they “suppress” that truth. As Paul writes to Timothy that man’s conscience becomes seared, that in the last days their conscience will be, as the New Living Translation says, it will become dead. John MacArthur said that man’s problem is not economic, social, political, its not even family/nuclear fear, abortion, sexual liberties, but that these are only symptoms of the problem. But he said that man’s problem is one thing, man does not acknowledge God. So, in this way, I mourn for this culture. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says a lot about mourning for the culture, and that is what I feel considering our society. We have a lot of stuff but not a lot of heart and character. Lloyd-Jones said it is good for us to mourn over our own sin and over the sins of others. He wrote that the Christian should be “concerned with the state of society … and the Christian should mourn about the state of the whole world as he sees the muddle and unhappiness and suffering of mankind. He sees the whole world in an unhappy and unhealthy condition and mourns over it.” I do think it is good when we are saddened by what is around us—not sinical, not hateful, not proud, but saddened—for man has chosen to reject God and his own conscience.
- Man has chosen many aspects of sin.
Notice that this passage speaks about the breaking up of relationships when it talks of envy, murder, hate, gossiping—heart relationships divided. What is popular in our society today is the “heart.” Sort of drives me crazy. But I also lament that as we see young people without any acknowledgement of God, and knowing that their sin will only grow deeper, as Paul warns Timothy the progression of the world without God.
“But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, without gentleness, without love for good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, but having denied its power.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5a (LSB)
Hot hard to see the “form of godliness” in our culture as we watched the Winter Olympics—very “spiritual.” Tones of the Tower of Babel as men and women striving for love and unity without God. See, what happens because of a suppressing of the truth is that man goes from reacting upon his human earthly desires to jump into pornography, to sexual sins outside of marriage, and then to rationalize this type of lifestyle; and it can end up in a complete devaluation of everything which is right, to men with men and women with women, and then there is the applauding of such things. Not everyone does everything on the list, but it is where everyone heads without God’s intervening.
- Man has chosen to celebrate sin and not to mourn over it.
Thomas Schreiner suggests that the penalty of sinning is often the penalty of further sin. In other words, if you want it, God will allow you go further. And the human heart cannot stop it. Schreiner wrote:
“The foundational sin of refusing to thank and glorify God leads to other sins.”
Thomas R. Schreiner, Romans 97
Colin Kruse wrote:
“They were handed over (by God) to the tyranny of their own lusts as a due ‘penalty’ for their ‘perversion.’”
Colin G. Kruse, Paul’s Letter to the Romans 104
“[A]nd although they know the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”
Romans 1:32 (LSB)
Well, how do end a sermon like this? And I know I have not even touched the areas of this present-day sadness in our culture. We sometimes think that this has been a fast movement, but it has much of its roots in the sexual revolution of the sixties. A movement that changed much of the thinking of society. That changed the thinking of sexual relationships outside of a traditional marriage to the availability of nudity in magazines, then to the screen, and then to the Internet. Which brought in the pornography industry, Playboy, homosexuality, premarital sex, alternate forms of sexuality, and abortions. Not that these things were not around, but they were on their way to the point where people started to give hearty approval to these things and to those who practised them. Important to know that not all practice them, but the culture more and more approves of them. And then the gay rights movement, redefining of marriage, transsexuality, and on and on. Not a lot left that is frowned upon generally. And we might wonder where all this will lead. And that is a question that is difficult to answer, for we now live in a culture that God has removed to some extent His restraining hand.
But what we do not want to do is to lose sight of God and His desire for us to plead with Him. And we cannot have an over negative reaction to our times, as it is never the way in which we are to respond to the challenges which a sovereign God intentionally sets before us. For God knows the conditions of our world today. He knows the times which He has determined for us to live. He knows the challenges which He has set before our families and our church family. So, may God go with us, knowing that He has placed us here for such a time as this. And so, may we plead with God, send the Eric Liddell’s, the Daniel’s, the Joseph’s. And even through our small work here, God may raise up people, those who will shine for Christ within our culture. And may we not lose sight of the gospel, for the gospel is great news! Because the gospel is the power of God, and through the gospel, the righteous can live by faith. So, could we plead with God on behalf of our culture. Yes, that Christ might return, but maybe, Christ will revive our culture and place within them a new heart, and once again, restrain us with a heavier hand. I think of the words of Paul to the believers in Ephesus:
“And you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all also formerly conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.”
Ephesians 2:1-5a (LSB)
Let’s pray. Lord, You said, if My people would humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their evil ways, then I will listen from heaven, I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land. Lord, we plead on behalf of our culture. Lord, see if there be any sin in us and heal our land. May we see these warnings as real today. May we be both sickened and saddened by the things around us. But may You also use us a light in a darkened world. That we are not merely Christians on the outside, but that our very hearts are purified that we might see You do great things through all believers around this world. And all God’s people said, amen.