Their Foolish Hearts are Darkened

[Christsfreeservant]

I’m sharing this here with you from my time of personal devotions with my Lord Jesus Christ, for your encouragement. Sue Love

Romans 1:18-20 ESV

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”​

The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness (irreverence, wickedness, lack of respect and refusal to give honor to God that is due him). To me this describes the cheap grace gospel which is permeating the church (or what is falsely called church) here in America, for it discourages repentance, obedience, and submission to Christ as Lord. It calls that works salvation or Lordship salvation as though that is evil.

The wrath of God is also revealed against the unrighteousness (injustice, a violation of God’s moral standards) of men (includes women), who by their unrighteousness (immorality, dishonesty, indecency) suppress (hide) the truth. So, this is not speaking just of those who make no profession of faith in Christ but of all who are living immoral, dishonest and indecent lives by their thoughts, their words, their attitudes, and their behaviors.

God’s wrath is revealed against them because he has made himself known to all humankind. He has shown us who he is through his created works. And it isn’t just that he revealed that he is God but he revealed his divine nature to us through the things that he has made. So all of us are without excuse if we refuse God, and if we refuse to honor him as God by not obeying him and by not submitting to him as Lord and by not forsaking our sins to follow him.

Romans 1:21-23 ESV

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”​

Now, this “knowing” of God is not in intimate relationship with him as we have when we believe in Jesus to be Lord and Savior of our lives. This has to do with knowledge and understanding of who God is via God revealing himself to us through his creation. Even though he has revealed himself to us so that we can know him intimately, many people refuse to honor him as God by refusing to repent of their sins and to submit to him as Lord and to walk in obedience to his commands.

And this is exactly where many people are today who profess faith in Jesus Christ because they have bought into a lie which tells them that nothing is required of them, that Jesus does it all, and that they do nothing. And they believe the lie because they don’t want to have to honor Christ as Lord, and they don’t want to have to forsake their sinful practices, so they accept a lie which gives them permission to keep on sinning guilt free.

And so rather than submit to Christ as Lord they follow after the gods of this world and of their own flesh and they do what their evil hearts desire regardless of who gets hurt in the process because it is all about them and it is all about having their sinful lusts satisfied. And it is all about their pride, for their pride will not let them submit to or bow to anyone else but self because they always have to be the ones in control.

Romans 1:24-25 ESV

“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.”​

God, although he provided the way for us to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with him, will not force his will upon us. He will make himself and his will known to us but we have the choice to choose him or to not choose him. And if we choose to go the way of the flesh and to dishonor him and to refuse to obey our Lord, then he lets us go. He hands us over to the will of our flesh and he lets us do what our evil hearts desire.

And when we are given over to the flesh to do what our sinful hearts desire, there are no limits to what we might do when under the control of the flesh and not under the control of the Spirit of God. For evil knows no limits and the more evil that you do the more you will want to do because evil never satisfies and so it keeps on wanting more. And so many people in this place will go deeper and deeper into sin without conscience or regret.

Since sin keeps wanting us to go deeper, many people will end up following all sorts of immoral and sexually perverted ways and they will get into lots of weird stuff which destroys both body and soul. And they are filled up with all sorts of malice, evil, slander, hate, insolence, pride, foolishness, faithlessness, heartlessness and ruthlessness. And they not only practice these things but they also give approval to others who practice them.

The Way of the Lord

So, if we live like what was described above, even if we profess faith in Jesus Christ, still the wrath of God will come against us. We will not inherit eternal life with God, but we will die in our sins because we refused to submit to Christ as Lord, and we refused to forsake our sinful practices in order to follow our Lord in obedience, and we refused to honor God as Lord but we chose the way of the sinful flesh, instead.

For the way of salvation from sin is the way of the cross of Christ. And the way of the cross is via dying with Christ to sin and living to him and to his righteousness, not just once but daily and continuously until the day that we die. For the way of salvation is via us being crucified with Christ in death to sin and us being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

The only way that we can have salvation from sin and eternal life with God is through faith in Jesus Christ which comes from God and thus submits to God and which honors him as Lord. If we do not die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, but we continue living in deliberate and habitual sin to the glory of self, and not to the glory of God, then the Bible teaches that heaven is not our eternal destiny but hell is. So, please take this to heart.

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

He Gives Purpose

An Original Work / June 9, 2012

“Listen to Me when I’m calling to you.
Obey freely My word.
Follow Me in all of My ways.
Do all that I say.
Hear Me gently whisper to you
My will for your life and future.
Give all of your life and heart to
Follow Me always.”

Repent of your sins and worship Jesus.
He’s your Lord and Master.
He died for your sins so you could
Live with Him today.
He has a plan for your life and
He gives purpose and direction.
He gives meaning to your life,
So follow Him today.

“I love you so much I gave My life for
You to walk in My ways,
Living for Me each day as you
Bow to Me and pray.
Witness for Me of your love for Me and
Of My grace and mercy,
How I died to save you of your
Sins now and always.”

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I’m sharing this here with you from my time of personal devotions with my Lord Jesus Christ, for your encouragement. Sue Love

Romans 1:18-20 ESV

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”​

The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness (irreverence, wickedness, lack of respect and refusal to give honor to God that is due him). To me this describes the cheap grace gospel which is permeating the church (or what is falsely called church) here in America, for it discourages repentance, obedience, and submission to Christ as Lord. It calls that works salvation or Lordship salvation as though that is evil.

The wrath of God is also revealed against the unrighteousness (injustice, a violation of God’s moral standards) of men (includes women), who by their unrighteousness (immorality, dishonesty, indecency) suppress (hide) the truth. So, this is not speaking just of those who make no profession of faith in Christ but of all who are living immoral, dishonest and indecent lives by their thoughts, their words, their attitudes, and their behaviors.

God’s wrath is revealed against them because he has made himself known to all humankind. He has shown us who he is through his created works. And it isn’t just that he revealed that he is God but he revealed his divine nature to us through the things that he has made. So all of us are without excuse if we refuse God, and if we refuse to honor him as God by not obeying him and by not submitting to him as Lord and by not forsaking our sins to follow him.

Romans 1:21-23 ESV

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”​

Now, this “knowing” of God is not in intimate relationship with him as we have when we believe in Jesus to be Lord and Savior of our lives. This has to do with knowledge and understanding of who God is via God revealing himself to us through his creation. Even though he has revealed himself to us so that we can know him intimately, many people refuse to honor him as God by refusing to repent of their sins and to submit to him as Lord and to walk in obedience to his commands.

And this is exactly where many people are today who profess faith in Jesus Christ because they have bought into a lie which tells them that nothing is required of them, that Jesus does it all, and that they do nothing. And they believe the lie because they don’t want to have to honor Christ as Lord, and they don’t want to have to forsake their sinful practices, so they accept a lie which gives them permission to keep on sinning guilt free.

And so rather than submit to Christ as Lord they follow after the gods of this world and of their own flesh and they do what their evil hearts desire regardless of who gets hurt in the process because it is all about them and it is all about having their sinful lusts satisfied. And it is all about their pride, for their pride will not let them submit to or bow to anyone else but self because they always have to be the ones in control.

Romans 1:24-25 ESV

“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.”​

God, although he provided the way for us to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with him, will not force his will upon us. He will make himself and his will known to us but we have the choice to choose him or to not choose him. And if we choose to go the way of the flesh and to dishonor him and to refuse to obey our Lord, then he lets us go. He hands us over to the will of our flesh and he lets us do what our evil hearts desire.

And when we are given over to the flesh to do what our sinful hearts desire, there are no limits to what we might do when under the control of the flesh and not under the control of the Spirit of God. For evil knows no limits and the more evil that you do the more you will want to do because evil never satisfies and so it keeps on wanting more. And so many people in this place will go deeper and deeper into sin without conscience or regret.

Since sin keeps wanting us to go deeper, many people will end up following all sorts of immoral and sexually perverted ways and they will get into lots of weird stuff which destroys both body and soul. And they are filled up with all sorts of malice, evil, slander, hate, insolence, pride, foolishness, faithlessness, heartlessness and ruthlessness. And they not only practice these things but they also give approval to others who practice them.

The Way of the Lord

So, if we live like what was described above, even if we profess faith in Jesus Christ, still the wrath of God will come against us. We will not inherit eternal life with God, but we will die in our sins because we refused to submit to Christ as Lord, and we refused to forsake our sinful practices in order to follow our Lord in obedience, and we refused to honor God as Lord but we chose the way of the sinful flesh, instead.

For the way of salvation from sin is the way of the cross of Christ. And the way of the cross is via dying with Christ to sin and living to him and to his righteousness, not just once but daily and continuously until the day that we die. For the way of salvation is via us being crucified with Christ in death to sin and us being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

The only way that we can have salvation from sin and eternal life with God is through faith in Jesus Christ which comes from God and thus submits to God and which honors him as Lord. If we do not die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, but we continue living in deliberate and habitual sin to the glory of self, and not to the glory of God, then the Bible teaches that heaven is not our eternal destiny but hell is. So, please take this to heart.

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

He Gives Purpose

An Original Work / June 9, 2012

“Listen to Me when I’m calling to you.
Obey freely My word.
Follow Me in all of My ways.
Do all that I say.
Hear Me gently whisper to you
My will for your life and future.
Give all of your life and heart to
Follow Me always.”

Repent of your sins and worship Jesus.
He’s your Lord and Master.
He died for your sins so you could
Live with Him today.
He has a plan for your life and
He gives purpose and direction.
He gives meaning to your life,
So follow Him today.

“I love you so much I gave My life for
You to walk in My ways,
Living for Me each day as you
Bow to Me and pray.
Witness for Me of your love for Me and
Of My grace and mercy,
How I died to save you of your
Sins now and always.”

If we look at the first Scripture quote, we see that Paul is talking about unrighteous people. But genuinely converted believers receive the righteousness of Christ as a free gift through no effort on their part. Along with that they are filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit Who works within them to steer them away from the works of the flesh and to conduct themselves according to the fruit of the Spirit.

Therefore, a genuine convert to Christ will hate sin, have godly sorrow over their faults and shortomings and passionately seek after knowing Christ and being found walking in the light with Him.

The type of professing Christians you are talking about who are still doing acts of unrighteousness, are quite possibly those who have "got religion" but have not been genuinely converted to Christ. Paul speaks in Ephesians of the works of the flesh and he says that they were like that once, but now have been cleansed and transformed. But a professing Christian who has not been transformed by the indwelling Holy Spirit is a hypocrite and not a true believer.

The parable of the wheat and the tares show that real Christians and hypocrites can be together and no one can tell the difference. They both live moral lives, talk the talk, walk the walk, pray, preach, do good works, etc. But the hypocrite does not do these things from the heart. He can be an angel at church, but a devil at home and his workplace. But people can't see into the hearts of others. Only God can. That is why at the Judgment, when the hearts of people are made manifest, the true believers will be separated from the hypocrites.

The Lord said not to try and separate the wheat from the tares before the Judgment, because in the attempt, some of the good wheat might be damaged. We have seen this many times when zealots have engaged in witch hunts to "weed out" the sinners in the church. The result is that innocent lives have been harmed and good souls have been turned away from the faith. The witches of Salem, and in modern times, the Shepherding and Covering movement have been prime examples of this.

Good church pastors have not tried to judge their people before the time, but have preached Jesus and Him crucified, and allowed the Holy Spirit to do the convicting and transforming.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

If we look at the first Scripture quote, we see that Paul is talking about unrighteous people. But genuinely converted believers receive the righteousness of Christ as a free gift through no effort on their part. Along with that they are filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit Who works within them to steer them away from the works of the flesh and to conduct themselves according to the fruit of the Spirit.

Therefore, a genuine convert to Christ will hate sin, have godly sorrow over their faults and shortomings and passionately seek after knowing Christ and being found walking in the light with Him.

The type of professing Christians you are talking about who are still doing acts of unrighteousness, are quite possibly those who have "got religion" but have not been genuinely converted to Christ. Paul speaks in Ephesians of the works of the flesh and he says that they were like that once, but now have been cleansed and transformed. But a professing Christian who has not been transformed by the indwelling Holy Spirit is a hypocrite and not a true believer.

The parable of the wheat and the tares show that real Christians and hypocrites can be together and no one can tell the difference. They both live moral lives, talk the talk, walk the walk, pray, preach, do good works, etc. But the hypocrite does not do these things from the heart. He can be an angel at church, but a devil at home and his workplace. But people can't see into the hearts of others. Only God can. That is why at the Judgment, when the hearts of people are made manifest, the true believers will be separated from the hypocrites.

The Lord said not to try and separate the wheat from the tares before the Judgment, because in the attempt, some of the good wheat might be damaged. We have seen this many times when zealots have engaged in witch hunts to "weed out" the sinners in the church. The result is that innocent lives have been harmed and good souls have been turned away from the faith. The witches of Salem, and in modern times, the Shepherding and Covering movement have been prime examples of this.

Good church pastors have not tried to judge their people before the time, but have preached Jesus and Him crucified, and allowed the Holy Spirit to do the convicting and transforming.

Many professers of Jesus Christ have not been genuinely converted but they think they have and so the Scriptures go into great detail to let all those professing faith in Jesus Christ know that a profession of faith in Christ is not enough to save us. It is the reality of Christ in our lives that determines if we are people of true faith or not.

We must now walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh and we must walk in obedience to our Lord and be putting sin to death, by the Spirit, for if we are still walking in sin (in darkness) while professing that we are in fellowship with God the Scriptures let us know we are liars. And if we say that we know God but we are not obeying him in practice, the Scriptures let us know that we are liars.

So just teaching what the Scriptures teach here to let all those who profess faith in Jesus know that a mere profession of faith is not going to get us to heaven. We must turn away from our sin and follow Jesus in obedience in his power and strength, by his grace, according to his word, or we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Lu 9:23-26; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 1:28-32; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:3-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:26-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Jn 15:1-11; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Matt 7:21-23]

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Many professers of Jesus Christ have not been genuinely converted but they think they have and so the Scriptures go into great detail to let all those professing faith in Jesus Christ know that a profession of faith in Christ is not enough to save us. It is the reality of Christ in our lives that determines if we are people of true faith or not.

We must now walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh and we must walk in obedience to our Lord and be putting sin to death, by the Spirit, for if we are still walking in sin (in darkness) while professing that we are in fellowship with God the Scriptures let us know we are liars. And if we say that we know God but we are not obeying him in practice, the Scriptures let us know that we are liars.

So just teaching what the Scriptures teach here to let all those who profess faith in Jesus know that a mere profession of faith is not going to get us to heaven. We must turn away from our sin and follow Jesus in obedience in his power and strength, by his grace, according to his word, or we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Lu 9:23-26; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 1:28-32; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:3-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:26-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Jn 15:1-11; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Matt 7:21-23]

This is why people can sit under Gospel preaching week after week with no results, and then the next Sunday, when the same sermon is preached, many turn to Christ. What makes the difference? It is when the Holy Spirit speaks through the preaching to the hearts of the listeners. Therefore it is not just the bare written word that saves people. It is the Holy Spirit speaking through the word that gives results. This is why a preacher needs to be a man of prayer as well as of the Word. This gives him unction in the pulpit which results with action in the pews!

 

[Christsfreeservant]

This is why people can sit under Gospel preaching week after week with no results, and then the next Sunday, when the same sermon is preached, many turn to Christ. What makes the difference? It is when the Holy Spirit speaks through the preaching to the hearts of the listeners. Therefore it is not just the bare written word that saves people. It is the Holy Spirit speaking through the word that gives results. This is why a preacher needs to be a man of prayer as well as of the Word. This gives him unction in the pulpit which results with action in the pews!

Yes, but we still need to make certain that we are teaching them the truth of what the Scriptures teach. They need to hear the truth. But yes no one can come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws him (persuades him) to come to Christ.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Yes, but we still need to make certain that we are teaching them the truth of what the Scriptures teach. They need to hear the truth. But yes no one can come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws him (persuades him) to come to Christ.

Very true. Prayer puts the preacher in touch with the Holy Spirit and forms the power base when he gets up and preaches the truth of the Gospel.