Posted on September 17, 2013 by Bro Hiltibidal — 50 Comments
The Romans One Syndrome Romans 1:21-32
(excerpts from the chapter by this title in my new book ”Edge of Dawn”)
We certainly are living in times that fit the description given to us in these verses. The saddest part of this is that it is not only the lost heathen crowd that fit the description but all too many that claim the name of Christ.
The moral denigration taking place in the world today is not limited to the pagans and heathens only but to the religious movements as well.
A Failure to Recognize God in All Things
“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” vs 21 All one need do is look around at the present world to see its description is of our times.
All ages have had a great deal of this diluted thinking and living, but as time for the Church Age runs out and the less effect Christianity has on the world, the more this type of culture will grow. The overall religious movements that were under the umbrella of Christianity have for centuries stood in opposition to the ungodliness described in these verses, but that has abruptly changed.
With the apostatizing of the church has come an acceptance of a wicked lifestyle both without and within the church. God’s people once were known for their separated living but no longer. Materialism has eaten up humanity until our own lives and our churches have become acceptable of the changes in culture and society as a whole.
The humanism of the Babylonian world system has now come into far too many churches until the Romans One Syndrome has become a part of it along with the world.
Vain in their imaginations and foolish in their heart well describes both the world and most of Christianity in our times.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” We have become so wise in our own understanding that we have come up with new and better ways to do church than God ever thought of. New music, new methods, new programs, new Bibles, new you name it, and wonder why the influence of modern day Christianity has little to no effect on culture.
Could it be we have allowed culture to affect us until we are irrelevant to both the world and our God?
“Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.” As a result, society has been turned over “to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts” and all forms of immorality has become accepted in today’s culture “to dishonour their own bodies between themselves.”
This has brought us to the next phase. “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”
Is this not the society we now live in and we who would dare speak against such sin are the outcast and condemned! “Who changed the truth of God into a lie”. This is to be expected of the heathen pagans of the world, but this has become the norm for so called “Christianity.” From main line churches to the emergent crowd and even those that would go by the name Baptist are in this category.
From “uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, unto vile affections, then to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.” We now live in the final stage where it says “Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
Mt 24:37-38 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
We are living in these last days where we see the world and what is perceived as church living just as these verses speak of. Surely we are coming near the end of this age for once these dead lines are crossed and God finally turns the world over to a completely reprobate mind only the Judgment of God, the tribulation, is left.
We need to heed James’ admonition realizing his words are but those of God as seen in Jas 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
Ever more as we see the day approaching we need to purpose withal our hearts to walk with our Lord daily in his Word and serious prayer. It is possible to have an Enoch’s walk in a Lamech’s world.
Spend what time we have left in true service to our Saviour. Our world is certainly caught up in the Romans One syndrome but we do not have to be!