“Given Up”

Sunday, April 10, 2022

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1.24-25)

In the verses that precede this quote, Paul says that sinners are “without excuse” before God (v20), because “what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them” (v19).  To a degree, man has little need of God’s specific instruction, knowing by nature that some things are right and others are wrong.  In the immediate context Paul mentions idolatry, and as the chapter continues he adds to the list sexual perversions, hatred and its relatives, sins that spring from pride, and more, wrapping up the list by pointing out that “they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die” (v32).  Yet all of these sinful, destructive behaviors are prevalent around us, and are increasingly represented as positive virtues!

Fundamentally this makes no difference from the perspective of each individual’s eternal judgment—God’s decree applies to everyone, even those who never hear it verbally expressed.  His basic expectations from the beginning have been for man to acknowledge and honor him, obeying the conscience he built into his creation, which tells us that it’s wrong to take over God’s role and force the world to serve us.  But in the grand scheme of things, many factors influence us, and lead to a greater likelihood of success or failure in submitting ourselves to God.  A society, culture, or government that actively prohibits the sharing of God’s word will keep it away from people who would otherwise learn the truth and obey.  One that promotes sin and calls it righteous will ensnare some who otherwise would follow their conscience and shun those evils.

As long as our own circumstances are wholesome and conducive to sharing the truth of God’s will, it’s easy to turn a blind eye to the plight of those not afforded the same blessing.  But there’s a relationship between what goes in and what comes out.  It’s especially easy to see when we consider parenting.  Ultimately, each child will make his own decision whether to submit to parents, civil authorities, and spiritual authorities, but parents exert a profound influence, for good or ill.  Conscientious parents undertake the process of making decisions for and about their children with great care, because they recognize what’s at stake.

“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals’” (1Co 15.33).  The picture here is a person of good morals who associates with those of unseemly character, and is influenced to go in a direction he would not have gone, if only he’d kept better company.

None of this a great surprise.  As long as we focus on the negative aspects, it’s easy to see the connection between the wrong friends and the wrong behaviors.  But the opposite is true, as well.  When we associate—either by choice or due to circumstance—with people of good morals, and especially with people who profess Christ, obey his commandments, and aren’t shy about telling us so, it’s easier to keep ourselves holy and please God—not easy, but easier.

It’s important that we recognize this now in particular, because failing to acknowledge our own society’s historical affinity for God’s word and commandments will leave us underprepared to weather the storm that began decades ago and is likely approaching its climax.  We live in a land shaped for 500 years by the actions of men who, notwithstanding their many faults, concerned themselves generally with spreading the gospel of Christ to pagan cultures.  This goes all the way back to Christopher Columbus, whose end goals included helping Europeans fund military operations to recapture Jerusalem from Muslim hands, as well as bringing Christianity to the nations of the eastern hemisphere.  From the Conquistadors to the Pilgrims, from the Quakers to the Abolitionists, from the Second Great Awakening to Trustbusting, from Prohibition to the Civil Rights Movement and more, our public history is a record of the changing tides of ostensibly Christian ideas—some well-founded in Scripture, others far less so. 

Nationwide polling shows continued decline in Americans’ belief in God, the Bible, the sinless and resurrected Christ, the gift of salvation—essentially the entire gospel.  Meanwhile, the culture continues to smear Christianity and push forward radical misapplications of ideas about equality and compassion that (somewhat ironically) they ultimately and unknowingly learned from God’s word, passed through intermediaries.  God alone knows where this tendency will lead, or whether the populace in general will follow blindly down the path to destruction (Mt 7.13), or dismiss the lie and hold up the standard of God’s truth, instead.  What will be your part in this unfolding story?  Will you go along with the many, even though Jesus said, “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets” (Lk 6.26)?  Will God eventually give you up “to dishonorable passions” (Ro 1.26)?  Will you be one of those who knows better but remains silent for fear of reprisal, tacitly going along to get along?  Or will you be one of those who rejects the evil influence and risks paying a high price for the sake of Christ? 

“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!” (Luke 6.22)

Jeremy Nettles

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