THE PATH OF SIN

By Harold M. Lind

 

 

Romans 1:18-32 gives us a vivid description of the path of sin.  As a person becomes more ensnared in sin, it becomes worse and worse.  These passages show this progression, and serve as a warning to anyone who would choose to believe that God doesn’t exist.  For it is God who has written His existence on the heart of all people, so that nobody will have an excuse.

 

18:  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

 

Some people portray God as a loving God, and He is, but they think that His love will overlook their sinful ways.  Others think that God is vengeful and angry, because of the judgments brought about by Him in the Bible.  God is actually both; although He is Love, He also must judge sin.  But He has also given a pardon by paying the price of our sins with His own blood through His Son Jesus Christ.  It is only after this pardon has been rejected time and time again, that he eventually judges a person’s sin.  Man makes excuses in his heart to try to explain away God and the responsibility he has to Him (“The fool has said in his heart, there is no God” Psalms 14:1).

 

19:  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them.

 

When God first created man, he instilled in him the knowledge that He exists.  Man has an empty spot in his heart that only God can fill.  Some men do not want to believe that God exists; they try to fill this spot with other things, but they remain empty.  This is because this empty spot in our hearts can only be filled with God.  We were engineered that way. 

 

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon tells us of his quest to find something to replace God in his heart.  He sums it up in the second verse of the first chapter:  “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”.  It is vanity for us to try to replace God with something else, and it is futile as well.  We need to have God be a part of us.  We were built that way.  To ignore God is to run the risk of putting something in our heart that could destroy is.  This is the path of sin.  We travel this road when we reject God; when we make ourselves God.

 

When a primitive tribe of humans was discovered in a remote region of the world, which had managed to remain detached from the developed world, what did the discoverers find?  They found that these tribes had gods that they worshiped.  This was always the case.  Why is this?  Why is there a common thread throughout the human race?  It is because man knows that there is a place in his heart for a god.  If he does not fill it with the real God, he will spend the rest of his life filling it with other gods.

 

20:  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

 

What about the heathen in the jungles of Africa?  He doesn’t know about Jesus; how can God hold him accountable for not believing in Him?  God answers this in the above verse.  The universe proves that there is a God.  Man chooses to not believe this, to his peril.  This is why we have Evolution.  Because we need to get rid of God, and have matter and time be the gods that created us.  This way, there is no personal God to hold us accountable for breaking His laws.  It makes us gods, and allows us to choose how we will act, without having to explain our actions to anyone. 

 

It doesn’t matter that there is absolutely no evidence for evolution, and how can there be?  God says that the creation proves that there is a creator.  If you were out in the middle of nowhere, and you came upon a car, you would wonder what it was doing way out there.  You wouldn’t say, “wow, this car is the product of millions of years of evolution, and it came right out of the dirt”.  Even if all the manufacturers names and ornaments were missing, you would still know that man had designed and built it.

 

But we look at different aspects of the creation like a cell in the human body, and assign the design to chance, time, and a soup of amino acids.  As if chance is a better designer than humans.  There are thousands of self-replicating organic systems on the earth, none of which was designed by man, and their creation is assigned to nobody, to evolution.

 

21:  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.

 

Humans knew there was a God.  It wasn’t until the end of the 18th century that these views started to change.  There was a reason for this; there were many Monarchies in the world, and some people wanted democracies to replace them.  One big problem was that the Bible said that we should honor those in authority over us, because God chooses who shall rein over whom.  Even Jesus, when asked about paying taxes, said to give to Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to God, what is God’s.

 

The plan for discrediting the Bible was to have it contradict “science”.  They call it science, but there is nothing scientific about it.  Because the Bible had the earth being about 5800 years old at the time, they created a theory that the earth was millions of years old.  When Charles Darwin came up with the Theory of Evolution, they got rid of God as well.  This laid the groundwork for overthrowing the Kings that God had set up to rule over man.

 

Psalm 14:1 says, “…the fool has said in his heart ‘There is no God’”.  It is interesting to note that the fool says in his “heart”, emotionally, he convinces himself that there is no God.  But intellectually, he really knows.  It is mans wicked and proud heart that rejects God.  Pride is the original sin.  It was created in the heart of Satan, when he said the 5 “I Wills” (Isaiah 14:13-14), and wanted to make himself as God; to replace God.  Our sinful nature doesn’t want to follow any rules or laws from anyone.  We do not want to glorify God; we don’t want to recognize Him as an authority over us.  We want to be our own person, our own god.

 

When we should be bowing before God, for all He has done for is, instead we blaspheme against Him.  We are ungrateful and in our denial of God, we loose our senses and start doing stupid things.  Like our brain shuts down, and we become illogical.

 

22:  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

 

Those that believe in their own cleverness and sophistication are very proud.  They feel that they are enlightened, and superior to those that have to use the “crutch” of church, or of God.  They believe that they are more intelligent, that those that are religious are superstitious, uneducated, and deluded. 

 

God has a different opinion of them; He says that they think that they are wise, but they are actually fools.  This is very evident because they know that God exists, the Bible clearly indicates this in verse 19.  But they choose to not believe in God, and this is pure foolishness.  If you can get a person who believes in evolution to be honest with you he will admit that there is no evidence to prove evolution.  But he “chooses” to believe in the hope that evidence will be found someday, because of the alternative:  That there is a God who designed the universe, but this is unthinkable to them.  How else can you describe this behavior other than foolishness?

 

People who don’t believe in God say that it takes too much faith.  To believe in evolution takes much more faith than to believe in God.  With evolution, you have no proof.  You have a bunch of theories, that aren’t even that scientific, most of which are contrived to contradict what the Bible has to say about creation.  The Bible is actually more accurate in describing the universe than science is.  Not only is the Bible an accurate science book, it foretells the future through prophecies; many of which have come true, with others about to come to pass.

 

23:  And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

 

The second of the Ten Commandments, contained in Exodus 20, says that we shouldn’t create a graven image, or an idol.  In ancient times, many people had small images made out of gold, silver, wood, or stone.  These came in many shapes and sizes, many of which were of animals or humans.  Man’s heart was so wicked, that pride could not allow him to bow down to the God that gave him life. 

 

But that empty spot in his heart compelled him to fill it with something.  So he created god in his own image, or in the image of creatures.  And worshiped them as his gods.  It is easier to worship a god that you have created, because you own them, instead of them owning you.  Yet they will enslave you.  Soon the gods become responsible for the weather, a good growing season, or fertility.  What you originally created becomes your master, and you must obey them.

 

24:  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves:

 

With the Ten Commandments in the Bible, we have the absolute law, and absolute truth. Everyone is subject to the laws that were handed down by God.  This includes kings and governments, which are set up by God.  They answer to a higher authority, and are not allowed to make up their own laws, they can only enforce the laws God has specified.  This protects the common people that are in subjection to the government as well as preventing the government from becoming a tyranny.

 

“In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”  Judges 21:25 

 

Man instinctively wants to do “that which is right in his own eyes”.  Because of this, he needs to get rid of the absolute truth of the Bible.  This is why the Ten Commandments can’t be seen anywhere, though they are good rules to govern your life even if you don’t believe in God.  But man doesn’t want any reminders of God anywhere; because this reminds him that in his heart, he knows there is a God.

 

With man not bound by any restrictions, he is free to fulfill the lusts of his heart, which is utterly wicked, and beyond redemption.  When you become a Christian, you are given a new heart, because the old heart is desperately wicked and cannot be repaired.  Jeremiah says:

 

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”  Jeremiah 17:9

 

The carnal man hates all things that are of God, and Satan will strive to twist and pervert anything that God has created.  1 Corinthians 6:19 says that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, because we were bought with a price.  The price was the life of Jesus, the Son of the Living God, who took on the sins of the world, so that we might be saved.  Because of this, our body is not our own, it is God’s, and we should glorify God with it.

 

But what to we do with it?  Everything that is unseemly; from changing our looks, because we do not like what God has given to us, to the mutilation of it.  We tattoo it, pierce it, surgically implant bolts in our heads, and have our tongue’s split so that it appears forked.  We do all of this to the sacred temple of God.  And we do more with our bodies, none of which is sanctified by God.

 

25:  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

 

The empty spot in our heart must be filled.  It is a lock that requires a certain key.  We even know that the key is God, but will choose to try other keys.  The keys we try are other “gods” provided by Satan, who wants to distract us from the truth that is in our hearts, and seduces us to run after other gods.  Some of these gods are evolution, feminism, environmentalism, money, pornography, sensuality, drugs, etc.  Things that were created for our benefit become our masters, as we worship the creation, not the creator.

 

These and many other gods seem to fit our lock initially, as sin is pleasurable for a season.  But soon, we tire of the god, and cast it away and pursue another; if we are lucky.  Many of these gods can ensnare us, which can lead to our untimely death.  Look at drugs:  when we try drugs the first time, we find they feel very good, we have never felt anything like it.  This is the hook; and if we continue to engage in this risky behavior, we will become ensnared.  We did drugs initially to feel good, soon though we will take them so we don’t feel bad.  That is the point of addiction; it is the point at which the trap closes behind us.  Continuing on this path will lead to financial ruin, becoming a thief to support our habit, and possible overdose, leading to death.  There are many different paths; many different gods, but they all lead to the same place: the consequences of sin is death.

 

26-27:  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 recompense of their error which was meet.

 

If man continues to move on the path of sin, he will eventually arrive at this point: Homosexuality.  This is one of the stops that some people make on the road of sin.  In the verse above, the term “gave them up”, in the Greek, means to entrust, or surrender.  At this point, God is protecting us from the devil, and ourselves, preventing us from going to the next level of sin.  But as we continue to reject God, and harden our hearts to His commandments, God finally gives us what we want, and surrenders us to the enemy.  We have made our choice, and we don’t want God.

 

The result of this is to start doing things that are unnatural, or against nature.  The god of homosexuality is another path to destruction.  Some might say that they were born that way, but there is no scientific proof of this.  The Bible clearly says that this is “unnatural”.  This means that God did not create this, it is an invention of Satan, and a perversion of marriage that was created and sanctified by God in the Garden of Eden. 

 

Marriage is the only creation of God that has been more maligned than anything.  From fornication (sex before marriage between unmarried people), to adultery (sex with someone other than the spouse), to living together (discounting God’s institution); marriage has been attacked from the start.  Pornography in movies, magazines, and the Internet define how pleasurable it should be, and when it isn’t, we feel inadequate, or that our mate does not meet our needs.  This is a lie from Satan in an attempt to prevent a God blessed marriage.  We have also been deceived into believing that we can always get a divorce if it doesn’t work out.  This was not the way God meant it.  If you were to marry, you were to stay married “until death do you part”.

 

Even after creating such perversion on God’s concept of marriage, Satan wasn’t happy; he had to increase the perversion.  He tempted man and woman into having unnatural lusts for each other.  Man with man, and woman with woman, leading to the spread of deadly diseases, and a self-destructive lifestyle; not to mention that this choice cannot procreate, so the population can’t be sustained by it.  Even if you believe in evolution, homosexuality runs contrary to it; it is a dead end for natural selection. 

 

The Bible even prophesies the result of this sin:  And receiving of themselves the recompense of their error.  There are consequences to this lifestyle.  The most evident is AIDS.  The consequence of their lifestyle has spilled over into normal society, so to speak.  AIDS is not a disease exclusively for homosexuals; drug addicts get it, as well as prostitutes, and their customers, fornicators, and adulterers.  Since these activities are also forbidden in the Ten Commandments, it is not surprising that there are consequences for this behavior.  The unfortunate side-affect of these types of sin is the hemophiliac who gets AIDS from tainted blood clotting factor.  Although all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God, he probably did not deserve AIDS.

 

Thus, the sin of others affects us all.  As society as a whole becomes more liberal, and gets rid of God more and more, we will reap what we sow.  The more perverse we become, the more consequences and destruction we will reap, regardless if we are actively taking part in these types of sin or not.

 

28:  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things, which are not convenient;

 

Here we have another turning point on the path of sin.  The Greek in “retain” can be translated hold, possess or relate.  “Their knowledge” is translated recognize or acknowledge.  This verse is talking about people who, once again knowing that God exists, because he placed that in their hearts, they refuse to acknowledge Him.  This is talking about the Atheist.  Atheists refuse to believe that there is a God. 

 

2 Peter 3:5 says that they “willingly are ignorant” of what the Bible says.  Ignorant in the Greek means, “be hid” or unaware, and as an adverb, it would be unwittingly.  So being ignorant would indicate that the person does not know something, but it is not his fault.  But because they are “willingly ignorant” (willingly in the Greek being translated to choose, prefer, wish or be inclined), they actually know what the Bible says is true, once again, being designed in their hearts by God. 

 

They “choose” to disregard this and actively refuse to believe in God, and acknowledge and give Him the Glory for what He has created.  The worst thing a child can do to his parents is to be ungrateful.  We owe God our existence, and all the blessings he bestows on us that are undeserved.  Yet we are not only ungrateful, we do not want to acknowledge that He even gave it to us.  We want to believe that it was just lying around and we came up and took it.  We steal the universe from God, who owns all things.  God is patient, but only for so long.

 

Once again, as man continues to choose to not recognize God, there will come a time when God will give him what he wishes:  “a reprobate mind”.  This can be translated “worthless understanding”.  God has given us divine understanding, in knowing where the universe came from, and even the privilege of knowing the creator on a personal level.  Because man does not want this, he trades it for worthless understanding.  This is mans understanding and is evident as he attempts to control his destiny.

 

If you look at mans history, it is defined by wars, killing and suffering.  This is to such extremes, that it makes people (who are willingly ignorant) proclaim; “If there really was a God, he wouldn’t let such suffering go on”.  This is an ironic response, since they know there is a God, but refuse to recognize Him and his laws.  If the world would obey God’s commandments (assuming that that was possible), there would be less pain and suffering.  The world would be a better place.  Instead of asking how God could exist with such evil in the world, we should instead realize that the evil is there because man wants it there.  Because man has been given “worthless understanding” (also known as human wisdom), which is exactly what he wanted.

 

In the verse below, we will see what happens when man applies his newfound wisdom, as a result of his rejection of God.

 

29-31:  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

 

This verse summarizes the problem with the world, and it is a heart problem.  Man has turned his heart away from God.  Without God, he has only his own wisdom to guide his behavior; the result is verses 29-31:

 

Unrighteousness:  Without God, man will do all that is unseemly; if he has the resources, he will keep nothing from himself.  Solomon says this in the book of Ecclesiastes; he was probably the richest man who ever lived, he certainly had the most wisdom.  But even with his wisdom, his story is a sad slipping away from God.

 

Fornication:  Fornication is having sex before you are married.  The Greek is porneia, and is where we get pornography, porno, or porn.  It also includes adultery and incest.  In the book of Hosea, God portrays idolatry as leaving the worship of God and following after other gods of gold, silver, wood and stone.  He refers to it as adultery, and the implications are found in Genesis:

 

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”  Genesis 2:24

 

Compare this verse with the one found in Corinthians:

 

What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.  1 Corinthians 6:16

 

The institution of marriage that was created by God in Genesis 2:24 is unique in joining two people together forever.  Yes, forever, not until things don’t work out.  It is intended to make two people one, in such a way, as to not be able to separate them.  Like paper glued together, to attempt to separate them, will result in both being torn apart.  Comparing this to fornication, and especially adultery has serious ramifications.  You are joining yourself with this person, possibly many people; there appear to be spiritual implications that we do not fully understand.

 

Wickedness:  Also depravity, malice and iniquity:  The first place in the Bible that wickedness is mentioned says:

 

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  Genesis 6:5

 

People who reject the God that was placed in their hearts will find their thoughts turned towards evil.  This is a sobering fact that should make is think twice about leaving the shelter of God for the unknown iniquity of the world.

 

 Covetousness:  Also greed, avarice and extortion.  The desire of “things” is like worshiping the creature instead of the creator.  There are so many things in the world that are there to distract us from what is really important.  It is amazing to see all the things there are in the world; literally, anything you want to buy.  For the rich, nothing will be held back.  For the rest, we must “keep up with the Joneses”.  This sin is the sin of excess; a hunger for more stuff that can never be satisfied.  Some will chase this their entire lives, but like a wisp of smoke, they will never obtain it.  And when they die, all their “toys” will be divided among others, who are pursuing the same folly.  When they find themselves in Hell, they will have nobody to blame.

 

Maliciousness:  Much the same as wickedness, they are bad on purpose.  They are not content to quietly be evil, but need to make everyone else’s life miserable as well.

 

Full of Envy:  Replete with jealousy, ill will and spite, we want the best of everything.  We look on others that have more than us with malice, especially if we can’t keep up.  We are happy when someone successful falls on his face.  We delight in it.  We want to be on top, to lord it all over everyone.

 

Murder:  Many of these “traits of evil” overlap each other.  Some of them can cause others.  Why do men murder?  I am not talking about for self-preservation, or accidental, but cold blooded, premeditated murder.  The first murder in the Bible was when Cain killed Abel.  This was a crime of envy and disobedience.  Abel was killed because God accepted his sacrifice and refused Cain’s.  This was not Abel’s fault; he was worshiping the Lord by giving him the first fruits of his labor.  Cain didn’t do this, because he wasn’t dedicated to God.  Because God knew that Cain’s heart was not sincere, he rejected his sacrifice.  Cain took it out on Abel and killed him.  Many murders follow the same pattern; we are mad at someone, or covet their goods.  Greed and Pride are the likely components to a murderer.

 

Debate:  There is nothing wrong with a difference of opinion, but this sin is referring to quarreling, contention and strife.  Some people are not happy unless they are having problems with someone.  They are not content with minding their own business, they have to get involved with others, and create trouble.  That seems to define their existence.

 

Deceit:  To decoy, trick, and guile; subtlety: 

 

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ”  2 Corinthians 11:3

 

Satan is the original deceiver.  He first lied to Eve to get her to disobey God.  His first lie was to contradict the Word of God.  Then he tempted here in the flesh, by telling here that she could become a “god” if she ate the fruit.  He said that God was actually denying her that “right”; she was tricked into thinking that she deserved to be like God.  Nothing has changed in six thousand years; people are still lying today to get what they want.  Some will con or trick people out of money or goods, others are always trying to get something for nothing.  Greed is usually involved.

 

Malignity:  This is bad character.  Correct behaviors in society are learned and become habits.  If you bump into someone, or vice versa, you say, “Excuse me”.  It doesn’t matter if you did it or not, you say it anyway; it is a habit.  Opening the door for women, helping people in need, these are all learned habits and make up a good character.  If someone has not been taught manners compatible with society, he will have problems.  A godless character will be one that has replaced god with something else.  Greed will probably be a big part.  Looking out for number one, and lack of compassion for others.  This person would probably be more likely to tell you to watch out, even though he ran into you.  Pride will convince them that they are better than you, and if they think you may be better, than they will make your life miserable.

 

Whisperers:  Whisperers like to tell things in secret about other people, slandering them.  This is kind of like gossiping, but there is more of maliciousness about it.  Things are made up because it is a slander, which is saying bad things that aren’t true about someone, where gossiping is more like telling things about other people that are none of your business.  God does not take to kindly to this:

 

“Whoso privately slanders his neighbor, him will I cut off: him that hath a high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.”  Psalms 101:5

 

Backbiters:  This is the same as a slanderer.

 

Haters of God:  It is hard to imagine why people would hate God.  After all, God made everything, and made it very pleasurable for man.  In order to not have a bunch of robots to talk to, He gave us the free will to choose to worship Him.  Unfortunately, we chose to deny him instead.  Our will is full of Greed and Pride.  We want to be god.  We don’t want to be accountable to anyone.  We want to be in charge of our own lives, but that brings with it dire consequences.  In trying to be free from any and all rules, we destroy ourselves.  The pursuit of this also causes great suffering of many other people, at the hands of those who are on this part of the way of sin.  When people see the evil in the world, they blame it on God:  “How can God be a God of Love when there is so much suffering in the world?  If this is what God is, I don’t want any part of Him”.  This is more of an excuse; God didn’t make sin, it started with Satan, who had pride in his heart, and wanted to be God.  When God created the heavens and the earth, he said that it was “good”.  God created only good.  Sin is manifested by man choosing to disobey God; the result is pain, and suffering, and death.

 

Despiteful:  These are people who say insulting and hurtful things, which are very injurious.  Some of the vilest things come out of a person’s mouth, whether on purpose or by accident; but once the words pass through the lips, they can never be recalled or forgotten:

 

“And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” James 3:6

 

Proud:  Pride is the basis for all sin.  This was born in the heart of Satan, when he said the 5 “I wills” and coveted the very place of God.  Pride causes us all sorts of problems.  It makes us do something stupid because someone called us a chicken.  It makes us look down on others because we feel we are better than them.  It keeps us away from God, because we don’t want someone over us; we don’t want an ultimate being that sees and hears all things to hold us responsible for our actions.  Our heart is so wicked, it is a good thing that others cannot read our mind, but God can.  He looks into our heart, and knows what we are thinking and feeling.  Our pride tells us that we should be god.  Because we can’t we hate God.

 

Boasters:  We all want to be accepted, for others to like us.  Some seek to increase their popularity by saying things that are not really true; by telling us how wonderful they are.  They may even try to manipulate us into doing things based on what they say.  Fashion is like this; they want to define how everyone dresses, what they wear.  This is very interesting, since a lot of the fashion shows portray female models in hideous clothing.  Fortunately, you usually don’t see these dresses for sale, or anyone else wearing them.  You would think that the models would be embarrassed to wear them, but I guess that greed and popularity drive them to display these atrocities.  It’s also funny to see some of the junk that people say is art, and others stand in front of the displays and “ooh” and “aah”, and try to say sophisticated things about it.  It’s like the emperors new clothes; nobody wants to admit that the art is ugly.  Even worse are those that would buy such monstrosities and pay large sums of money for them.  If they later realize what they have done, pride will keep them from letting others find out.

 

Inventors of Evil Things:  Not satisfied with the amount of evil in the world, we try to create more.  We already know from Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the sun; so inventing evil things is more like contriving or discovering evil or worthless things.  “The idle brain is the devil’s playground, or idle hands are the devil’s workshop” illustrate this.  When we reject God, we will have things start popping into our minds that are pure evil.  At the very least, it will affect our lives, and possibly lead to our death.  In the extreme, we would have people like Hitler or Saddam making millions of people miserable, as well as killing many without mercy.

 

Disobedient to Parents:  This breaks one of the Ten Commandments, which says,

 

“Honor your father and your mother: that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God gave you.” Exodus 20:12 

 

The assault on the family has been relentless.  Kids are bombarded with messages to be disobedient and defiant of not only parents, but also all people in authority.  One of the slogans we hear is to “question authority”.  The opposite of this would not be to blindly follow those in charge, but God does say that God sets those in authority up, and we should submit ourselves to them.  We would draw the line at breaking God’s laws, but those in authority are subject to God’s laws along with everyone else; no one is above God’s Law.  It is interesting to note that this commandment has a promise attached to it.  That those who honor their father and mother will have days that are long.  Those who are disobedient may be shortening their lives.

 

Without Understanding:  Those in sin become foolish.  They loose their intelligence and understanding.  They do things that don’t make sense, like believing in evolution, which has no evidence, and reject God of which there is a great deal of evidence.  They are “willingly ignorant” of God, even though God put the truth of His existence in their hearts, so that they have no excuse.

 

Covenant Breakers:  Marriage is a sacred covenant between two people (a man and a woman) and God.  In its original design, a man and woman would be together “till death do us part”.  In today’s society, if a marriage doesn’t work out, they can get a divorce.  Even better would be to just live together to “make sure we are compatible”.  Yet most of those cohabitating do not go on to get married, and even fewer stay that way.  The main point here is probably our word.  You were taught in the olden days that your word was your bond.  In business, deals used to be done with a “handshake”.  Your word was the most protected thing you had.  If it was known that you couldn’t be trusted, that your word meant nothing, you were out of business.  Today, you have to cross every “T” and dot every “I”, or your contract may not be admissible in court.  It is also translated into lawyer’s terms, which is undecipherable to the average human being.  If you have to say things like “I swear to God”, or “I swear on a stack of Bibles, or my mothers grave”, then you probably have not been keeping your word.  God is very clear on this; He says that you should not make an oath, especially to Him.  He will expect you to keep it if you do, and since we have a tendency to not keep our word, it is better to not do it.

 

Without Natural Affection:  This is homosexuality, which the Bible portrays as just plain sin.  The fact that it is described as “unnatural” proves that it is not something you are born with.  No scientific study has concluded that there is any difference physiologically between homosexual and heterosexual people.  Yet they want you to think there is, so you will treat their sin as something acceptable; that it is natural and normal.  But it is not and never will it be, no matter how many laws governments of the world make.  God’s Law is immutable.  It doesn’t change.  It doesn’t matter how sophisticated a culture thinks it is, homosexuality will always be wrong, against nature, and self-destructive.

 

Implacable:  This is a sense of unreasonableness; this person cannot be reasoned with.  It can also mean a truce or treaty breaker.

 

Unmerciful:  We hear a lot about tolerance these days, to try to get along with everyone.  What this really translates to is what is called “politically correct”.  We can all get along as long as we do not say anything that is not politically correct.  If we do, we will see how intolerable people are, and there is no mercy or forgiveness for these lapses of political correctness.

 

32:  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.

 

Because God has put the knowledge of His existence in our hearts, and a conscience to know the difference of good and evil, we also know what the penalty for disobeying God is.  It is so tragic that people know that there is a God, but will not acknowledge Him.  He will knowingly disobey His commandments, even though he knows there will be a price to pay.  Man is so wicked that he will not only reject God, but delight in those who do as well.  This is probably where that saying comes from:  “Well if I am going to hell, at least my friends will be there to.”  His friends may be there, but he will never see them.  The Bible describes hell as a place of outer darkness, eternally separated from God, a place of everlasting torment.

 

There is an urgency to reach those who are on this path, which will lead them to destruction.  Many of the above sinful traits are responsible for keeping a person from God.  The older he gets, the harder his heart becomes, and the harder it is to come back to God.  Statistics show that 80% of those that are Christians accepted Christ as their Savior before the age of 18.  The older you get, the harder it becomes.  At the age of 70, only one person in about 750,000 becomes a Christian, which is a tragedy for the other 749,999, who find out too late, the error of their ways.  Hence the saying:  For Christians, this world is the only hell they will ever know; for the unsaved, this world is the only heaven they will ever know.  As the Bible says, “What profits a man if he gains the entire world but loses his own soul”.

 

If you are on this road, but realize that it is not where you want to be, please see our mission statement.  It has information on how to get on the path back to God.  Click here to view.