Chaos, Corruptions, and the Christian Response Part# 2

1 With the words

With the words, “As it is written,” Paul indicates that he’s quoting extensively from the Old Testament-specifically from the Psalms and Isaiah. God’s Word has always been clear and consistent about the utter defilement of sinful mankind. In that sense, this statement is essential to our understanding of the chaos that surrounds us. Paul is showing us the pathology of sin and its comprehensive corruption of the sinner’s character, conversation, and conduct.

Regarding man’s character, Paul writes, “There is none righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). From the perspective of heaven, all sinners stand equally guilty. No amount of good works can counterbalance the weight of our sin—that’s why the imputed righteousness of Christ is crucial for our salvation (f. 2 Corinthians 5:21). Moreover, Paul says, “There is none who understands’ (Romans 3:11). In his epistle to the Ephesians, Paul describes the futility of the sinful mind that it’s darkened, ignorant, and callous (Ephesians 4:17-19). Not only is the sinner incapable of righteousness, he’s incapable of understanding it.

2 Paul adds

Paul adds, “There is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside” (Romans 3:11-12). This is a damning commentary on the religions of the world. Paul is identifying them all as satanic counterfeits, sending men away from the truth about God. In the words of Isaiah 53:6, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.” Man’s natural disposition is to flee from God, and he invents false religion to accommodate his rebellion. Paul concludes, “Together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one” (Romans 3: 12). Man’s in has thoroughly corrupted his character, leaving him ignorant, rebellious, deviant, and useless.

There’s more. Not only is the sinner’s character corrupt-so is his conversation. Paul writes, “Their throat is an open grave” (v.13). We all try to be conscientious about bad breath. But in a graphic metaphor, Paul says the speech of the wicked carries the stench of death, their mouths are like filthy, putrid, open graves. He adds, “With their tongues, they keep deceiving” (v.13). Like a baited fishhook, they deceive to catch and kill.

Even their words are venomous and deadly “the poison of asps is under their lips” (v.13). In verse 14, the apostle abandons all subtleties no disguised hooks, no sneaking poison, and says plainly that the sinner’s mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” It is little wonder that Scripture says, “The tongue is a fire,” and that “no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison” (James 3:6, 8). As we see almost routinely today, the mouth of the unregenerate man is capable of great destruction.

3 While we don’t see

While we don’t see the same staggering death toll in wars today, man’s bloodlust still rages. Since 1973, the United States has committed its own holocaust, executing more than 60 million babies in what should be the safest place for them-their mother’s womb. If you make laws that allow people to kill, they will kill.If you allow them to riot, they’ll riot. If you allow them to break windows, loot businesses, burn police stations, and run roughshod over whole communities, they will. The unredeemed heart has no interest in peace, Paul says it is bent in the pursuit of bloodshed, destruction, and misery.The apostle concludes his condemnation with the summary statement, “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18). That’s the driving reality behind the rebellion and wretchedness that surround us this world does not fear God. Proverbs 16:6 says, “By the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil.”

Where there is no fear of God—no sense of eternal culpability, guilt, and punishment—the restraints have been removed and humanity is able to live out its corrupt, destructive desires.

4 The High Cost of Rejecting God

Hand in hand with the absence of the fear of God is the rejection of God. It’s not merely that unregenerate mankind dismisses God-they outright and rejects Him and His authority.Paul wrote about the consequences of rejecting God earlier in Romans.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them” (Romans 1:18-19). Planted in the heart of every human being is the knowledge of God. We don’t need to be told that God exists our ability to reason, to understand the simplicity of cause and effect, is enough to point us to the existence of our Creator. In this case, the effect screams for the reality of the cause.

Paul makes that very point: “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” (v.20). No one can claim ignorance of God’s existence His creative work leaves them no excuse for rejecting Him.

The apostle continues, describing the extreme and irrational lengths men will go to in their attempts to deny God’s creative authority over this world: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, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. (vv. 21-23)

5 When Sinners Reject God

When sinners reject God, they rebel against reason. Reason recognizes that the intricacies of creation testify to a Creator-that His creation speaks to His character and nature, and points to His full self-revelation in His Word.

But rebellion actually extinguishes man’s capacity for reason altogether-Paul says they become fools with darkened hearts, as they run from reason into the illogic of false gods and idolatry just to escape the truth about God.

But the tragic consequences of rejecting God don’t end there. In one of the most profound passages in all of Scripture, Paul illustrates the devastating results that follow, as God unleashes the full corruption of their sinful rebellion.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 degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men 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 any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance 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. (vv. 24-32) That repeated phrase “God gave them over” is legal terminology- God is handing those who reject Him over for the execution of His sentence and punishment. He turns them over to the pursuit of their sinful desires, and the destruction that follows.

6 Space won’t allow for

Space won’t allow for a thorough exposition of these verses, but we need to pause long enough to recognize our own society amidst the rubble.God’s judgment turns people over to a sexual revolution, until the whole culture is swimming in a septic tank of pornography. Consider the way our society aggressively sexualizes children, corrupting their view of God’s design before they can even fully comprehend it.

And it doesn’t end there the sexual revolution gives way to a homosexual revolution that ushers in transgenderism and other kinds of unspeakable deviance. Such perversion has so thoroughly permeated our culture that were now debating the question of how young is too young for children to begin mutilating their bodies in defiance of God’s creative design.

Paul says such corruption ultimately leads to a “depraved mind”-that is, a mind that doesn’t function. It’s the inability to think straight or do right. It defaults to wickedness, selfishness, strife, and all the other sinful dispositions Paul describes. Moreover, the depraved mind applauds and promotes those who sin likewise. Today we have political parties that have constructed their platforms on killing babies in the womb, destroying the structure of the family, promoting sexual perversion, and many of the other sins Paul describes here in Romans 1. And with the hearty approval of other depraved minds, they are elected to office where they can institute and normalize their corruption.

7 What we see

What we see then both on the pages of Scripture and in the chaotic world around us—is the dreadful cost of rejecting God. On top of man’s natural sinfulness is the added reality of divine judgment unleashing the full consequences of man’s rebellion. Based on the biblical testimony, we see mankind’s sinful corruption is systemic-not socially, but personally-and no one escapes. It’s not related to a lack of opportunity, money, privilege, or education. Man is a naturally sinful beast who rejects God and His law. All of us are born with that internal wretchedness that corrupts and defiles. It scars beauty, darkens wisdom, defiles love, robs purity, and steals peace.

Next Week

Kicking at God’s Restraints