God gave them over

In conjunction with our first article, we need to understand that God will not make mankind follow Him. Our Father has given us more than enough evidence to prove His He does exist, meaning we are without excuse (Rom. 1:20). Still, our Creator leaves the choice in our hands via freewill. If people want to reject Him, so be it.

Having said that, consider Romans 1:28: “even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.”  This explains why so many think the gospel message is foolish. Those who reject His word are professing to be wise, but they are fools (Rom. 1:22). The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God (I Cor. 1:27).

So what happens when someone develops a debased mind? The most dangerous result is that they become convinced that certain falsehoods are truth. For example, some are convinced that demon possession exists today. As Paul mentioned to the Roman brethren, people convinced themselves that sexual immorality was okay (Rom. 1:26-27). This is the result of a natural progression that starts when someone changes the true and living God into idols made by the hands of men (Rom. 1:23).

If someone develops a debased mind, can they break free of this and come back to the Lord? Yes! This is why we are redeemed by the blood of Christ (Eph. 1:7). It means we are brought back. The fact that we all have sinned (Rom. 3:23) means we all chose to reject God and instead do what we wanted. Those who choose to obey the gospel change their minds – that is what repentance means. We then put off that old man and put on the new man in baptism (Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:3-7). The debased mind has been put aside for a pure one.

Knowing all of this help encourage us to spread the good news. Let us never think that certain people are “made evil” or that the devil has taken away their free will to the degree that they cannot come back to the Lord. Those who do not obey are those who do not want to – it is as simple as that.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Chuck                              

The root of atheism

If the basis for creation is faith in God, the root of atheism is man wanting to be god. This may sound odd, but consider the following words found in Aldous Huxley’s article, “Confessions of a professed atheist.” Huxley says, “I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning, so I looked for reasons to assume it had none. My problem was not with the spiritual. I just concerned myself with proving there was no valid reason why I should not do as I wanted to. The philosophy of meaninglessness was an instrument of liberation. We wanted freedom from political and economic system and liberation from morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom.”

Although Huxley’s statement helped me clearly understand the mentality of an atheist, this is something Christians were already told. In Romans 1, Paul stated that man was without excuse because there was so much evidence to support God (verse 20). Moreover, those who denied the creator turned to all sorts of uncleanness and dishonored their bodies by pursuing the lusts of their hearts (verse 24). In other words, rejecting God allowed them to do whatever they wanted. They got the sexual freedom they craved (verse 26-32).

Darwinism, another rejection of the divine, leads to a similar outcome. Attitudes of “survival of the fittest,” “might makes right,” etc. lead to a society that rewards uncaring, selfish, self-centered behavior.

The outcomes of rejecting godly truth are straightforward – this only leaves us to figure out why it was rejected. Why would anyone not believe in God and His word? It is not because of the lack of evidence – it has to do with a carnal mind that wants to do whatever they want and not be held accountable. Those who live this way may be able to live this way on the earth for a little while, but everyone is going to give an account to the Lord for what they did here on earth in the end (II Cor. 5:10). Their perceived freedom will come to an end.

To abort babies or engage in homosexuality in the name of “freedom of choice” is foolishness. People can deny God, but they will not be able to deny His power on the last day! Remember that He is real.

                                                                                                                                                                                                            Chuck                          

Respecting the Holy Spirit

The Bible contains some warnings regarding the Holy Spirit – there are certain things we should never do to Him. Consider these admonitions.

• “Do not quench the Spirit” (I Thess. 5:19)
• “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit,” (Eph. 4:30)
• “Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him” (Matt. 12:32)

The Holy Spirit is part of the Godhead (Rom. 1:20) and is to be recognized as God just like the Father and Son (Acts 5:3-4; Heb. 1:8-9). Each part of the Godhead plays a part in the plan of redemption. Therefore, our actions toward Him can help us get to heaven or prevent us.  We must never minimize the Holy Spirit’s role. This is why the statements above were given concerning the Spirit.

What role did the Spirit play in helping man get to heaven? The answer is given in John 16:13: “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”  Without the Holy Spirit coming upon the apostles as promise and in fulfilled in Acts 2:1-4, then we would not know the will of God.  We could not even go into all the world and preach the gospel so people can be saved (Mark 16:15-16).

Knowing all of this, we can understand why quenching, grieving or blaspheming the Spirit puts our soul in jeopardy. Those who refuse to accept the gospel message are essentially rejecting the Holy Spirit. The inspired writers of the scriptures were moved by the Holy Spirit (II Pet.1:20-21).  This is why Paul told the brethren at Rome to listen to the message – in doing so they were being led by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14). They were not led in some mystical, mysterious way. It simply means when we do what the spirit revealed, we are following Him. May we always respect the Holy Spirit.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Chuck