Therefore God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged natural relations for that which is contrary to nature, and likewise the men, too, abandoned natural relations with women and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing shameful acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper, people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unfeeling, and unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them."
If this passage offends then you are the one who has a problem with God, not me for quoting it. Read also what Paul said to Timothy. 2 Timothy 3:1-7 "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these. For among them are those who slip into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
Where your heart is determines much concerning you. It's very plain that nobody has a free ride when it comes to willful sinning. Jesus has said that every single person is without excuse.
My heart longs for the day when at last Jesus is who is to come receives me to Himself.
I long for His return much as Dr. Jeremiah wrote in this prayer. While I groan in this body, my Spirit rests with Jesus. The Author and Perfecter of my faith.
It is with great sadness to see the truths found in these passages as well as it being joy at the revealed truth. The Bible isn't some collection of myths and fairy tales. It isn't delusions or mystical writing. Reading what little that you just did so far the reality of its truth is evident. We see these attributes of mankind permeating our world.
Within the Church and outside of it. People with depraved minds giving approval to those who have been given over to the evils listed. The first part in Romans appears to be about those in this world who have rejected Christ and God’s view on humanity. In Timothy we read of those who have infiltrated the Church.
You may have heard this phrase before but maybe not.
Hate the sin, not the sinner. We, like Paul wrote elsewhere, preach Christ out of love for others. Not out of selfish desires or evil interests. John wrote in the opening chapters of his Gospel that which Paul spelled out in to the Romans and to Timothy. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it."
That last part. The darkness did not grasp it. They couldn't handle it. For their deeds were evil.
Your heart either is striving to live in obedience to Jesus Christ or it's going to live in obedience to self. To self means your rules your way. The point being a depraved mind. A mind that is ruled by sin and sins desires is depraved.
There are countless so-called Churches, let alone so-called Christians, who refuse the reality of God's word against a fallen mankind. The preach an acceptance of things that it's very clear in Scripture that God's got a problem with. You cannot embrace sin and claim that you are saved. You cannot have a heart that refuses to believe that what God says ought not be lived like is acceptable. Later on in Romans Paul speaks to practiced sins. Those we intentionally do regardless of the outcome.
Joshua may have been speaking to the Children of Israel, but it's God speaking to all of mankind. There's no middle ground. There's no fence to sit on because you have some delusion that you cannot decide. You are either saved or unsaved. Jesus, in Revelation isn't separating those who believe from those who are undecided and those who rejected Him. It's only between those who are believers from those who did not.
Choose this day whom you will serve. It's either all in with Jesus and His plans for you or it's not.
You either believe the whole Bible or none of it. Picking and choosing isn't allowed in the eyes of God.
If you read all this and it disturbs or angers you, stop and ask yourself why.
The worst thing any believer can do is keep the truth about sin and its consequences from people who heading to Hell. What can be and probably is as bad is telling others that their sinful life is OK, that God will understand.
Where is your heart? What best describes your life? A heart that follows Christ or you?
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