"Being filled with all unrighteousness" Romans 1 v 29
Ungodliness, the subject matter of Romans 1 v 18-28, in which the God of glory has been dishonoured, and reduced to a common level, has led to all kinds of unrighteousness, the details of Romans 1 v 29-32. They set aside God's spirituality, His infinity, His eternity, His majesty, and materialised Him, spawning mythology, idolatry, superstition, creating a non- existent God of their own making. In short they created God, the opposite of the truth. God abandoned them to their desires, by withdrawing His restraining hand, from their propensity to evil. They became "God-forsaken". The resultant unrighteousness is a summary of the order of things today. The wrath of God is upon this world, He is "angry with the wicked every day" Psalm 7 v 11.
Part of His governmental dealings with this world is to withdraw restraint; three times over in this chapter "God gave them up" paradidomi-autos, surrendered them to themselves. The result is unrestrained wickedness, and although existing in varying degrees, is a fact in all God-rejecters.
Paul now lists the features of sins which mark the ungodly. There are 21 cited, and would be a fair summary of how people live. The tendency, even among preachers, is to talk in general terms of sins but they need to be spelled out, so we understand exactly what is meant by sin, This list does not suggest that everyone is guilty of all of these, or to the same degree, but we are all guilty of some of them, and even just one of them is enough to separate us from God.
Before considering each of the sins listed, we notice there is clearly a progressive trend downward Romans 1 v 29 "being filled with......" process of filling v 29 "full of ......." the process complete v 30 - 31 we become in character the sin that has filled us and so he says " whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, proud, boasters, etc. etc..." We are being filled with, we are full of, and then we become the sin that has taken over us. Although the concept of sin is unacceptable to many, it is a powerful reality in all of our lives and it is a fearful aspect of human life that we actually become the sin which dominates us.
Fornication - porneia; all forms of sexual deviancy; the natural desire for sex used wrongly.
Wickedness - baseness, inward plotting, depravity.
Covetousness - extortion, greed, fraud; comes from the base word which means to itch, the desire for something we don't have.
Maliciousness - badness, the evil desire to hurt another human being.
Envy - a feeling of discontent or resentful longing.
Murder - premeditated killing of a human being, the most heinous crime.
Debate - the propensity to quarrel, and always cause arguments.
Deceit -- the practice of trickery, craftiness, usually with a view to robbing others.
Malignity - mischievous in a bad sense, of bad character.
Whisperers - gossipers, with a view to isolating individuals.
Backbiters - raking up the past, slanderers, keeping a list of others sins.
Haters of God - insulting, blasphemous, no regard for those above us including God.
Proud - high- minded, haughty, a cut above the rest.
Boasters - braggarts, overplaying one's ability or achievements.
Inventors of evil - evil imaginations, thinking of the next sordid practice.
Disobedient to parents - a common, age old problem affecting all of us.
Without understanding - devoid of all human decency.
Covenant breakers - treacherous, cannot be relied on.
Without natural affection - hard, sub-human.
Implacable - unable to be entreated or appeased.
Unmerciful - vindictive, vengeful, lacking compassion.
Can you find yourself in this list?
God does not force His way into any of our lives, but if we chose to live apart from Him there are sinful consequences. In Psalm 116 v 15 the people of Israel put God to the test in the desert, wishing to go their own way "God gave them their request but sent leanness into their soul". He allowed them their way, but there was a price to pay for it. C.S. Lewis said in this respect " When men obey God, they say Thy will be done. When men disobey God, God says to them, thy will be done." God presents to us a choice of living, He does not force any of us, but spells out the consequences of choosing one way or another.
REJECT GOD , AND GOD WILL REJECT YOU AND LEAVE YOU TO THE CONSEQUENCES ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
He spells this out in Romans 2 v 7 -11
Tomorrow a blessed departure from our problems.
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