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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
Over the past several days we have seen the rebellion of men against God. First it is seen in their Willful Blindness: they know that there is a God to Whom they are accountable, but they choose not to worship Him. Then it is seen in their Wicked Beliefs: they choose to believe in idols and gods of their own creation. Now Paul discusses the third step in their rebellion: their Wanton Behavior. Paul writes that because of their refusal to follow Him, God "gave them up". This expression occurs three times in the passage above. The basic meaning of the word is "surrender". In other words, because men didn't want to follow God, He surrendered them over to their wicked passions. Acts 14:16 puts it this way:
"Who in times past suffered (allowed) all nations to walk in their own ways."
If a man doesn't want to follow God, God will allow him to follow his own path, which will ultimately lead to destruction. Kenneth Wuest put it this way: "Since men chose to give up God and worship the creature, God gave men into the control of the sinful things they preferred to God. In other words, God would not violate man’s will and force him to do something he did not want to do. When men persisted in following their totally depraved natures, God allowed them free rein. The natural result was immorality of the vilest kind. " It is interesting to note that the Greek word used here was also used as a judicial term for handing over a prisoner to his sentence. If a man doesn't want to follow God, he is sentenced to following his lusts.
In verse 24 Paul writes that God gave them up to "uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts". Uncleanness is the absence of purity. When men reject God they begin to practice impure activities. The root problem is the lust that exisst in their hearts. "Lust" means "a desire for that which is forbidden". God has condemned certain activities in His Word. However, a man who rejects the Lord and His Scriptures, and has established himself as the god of his life, is not concerned with that. He wants what he wants, and he couldn't care less about what God thinks. The end result of that, in verse 24, is that he acts upon his lusts and then dishonors his own body. This means that he brings shame upon himself. He may be doing what he wants, and may think that he is really living, but all he is doing is bringing shame and mistreatment to himself.
According to James 1:15, lusts always produce sin, and sin produces death. When people refuse to obey the Lord they begin to desire those things which He opposes, and then they act upon those desires by sinning. And that sin brings shame and heartache. Let's make sure to always believe and follow God.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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