I consider Romans to be the most important book of the Bible next to the gospels. Martin Luther considered Romans so important that he stated that he believed every Christian should memorize the entire letter.
William Barclay wrote:
“…Romans, of all Paul’s letters comes nearest to being a theological treatise…it is as if…into Romans Paul was distilling the very essence of his faith and…the very center and core of his belief…Paul had seen too often what harm and trouble could be caused by wrong ideas, twisted notions, misguided conceptions of Christian faith and belief. He therefore wished to send (to the Romans) a letter, which would so build up the structure of their faith that if ‘infections’ should ever come to them, they might have in the true word of Christian doctrine a powerful and effective defenses. He felt that the best protection against the infection of false teaching was the antiseptic of the truth.”
The first eight chapters deal with how to develop a right relationship with God. Paul calls this relationship righteousness. It is Paul’s contention that it is impossible for a human being to fully obey all the rules and regulations denoted in the Hebrew Scriptures (referred to as The Law). If we can’t fully live up to the Law, then technically, under the Law’s standards, we are under God’s condemnation.
But God gives something the Law cannot give–God gives us mercy, grace and love. The way to righteousness is to accept God’s grace and mercy–to have utter trust. This is faith! To know that you and I can never do enough to earn or deserve God’s love for us–and to know that God does not require it of us.
The Law tried to teach what we can do for God; faith teaches what God has done for us. Our job is to accept God’s gift in love, gratitude and trust. Now, this doesn’t mean that we can go off and do whatever we like without any responsibility or obligation. As a matter of fact, as we go through this study I will attempt to demonstrate what James meant when he said, "faith without works is dead" (2:20 KJV). Our faith is made stronger by our (good) deeds, or weakened by our lack of them.
The point of the Law really, is to offer guidance and direction. As people of faith, we’re not to be considered as condemned criminals facing a stern judge, but as beloved children trying to give back the love which God so freely gives us.
Chapters nine through eleven deal with how the Jewish rejection of Christ as Messiah opened the door for Christianity to be offered to the Gentiles. Because they have rejected Jesus, does this mean that God has rejected the Jews? Absolutely not! They remain God's chosen people. (And, it is not for anyone to judge how God works with any human being of a different religious persuasion.) It is God’s intention that none should be lost. Throughout history we have seen that a faithful Jewish remnant has continued to seek God’s will for their lives. But God brings good out of even the most evil situations. God first used the Jewish rebellion to being salvation to the Gentiles. Later, God will use the salvation of the Gentiles to bring the Jews back into the fold. Chapters twelve through sixteen teaches about love: What love is, what love requires, and how to live in love.
Romans 1:1-6
From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus called by God to be an apostle, and set aside to share the Good News of God. God had promised this Good News long ago through the prophets in the Holy Scriptures. The Good News is about Jesus, who lived as a human being and a descendant of King David, but Who also, by the power of the Holy Spirit was proved to be the Only Begotten of God, and our Savior, Jesus Christ, by His resurrection from the dead. Through Jesus, God has given us grace and called us to be apostles to reach out to all the Gentiles and bring them to the obedience that comes from faith. This we do to honor the Name of Jesus. You also are among those who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.
Paul offers his credentials. Called by God. Paul says he didn’t set out to do this, but God assigned this task to him–to be a servant of Jesus Christ.
Paul’s original name was Saul. He was a devout Jew, and as such he tried very hard to put down this upstart group that was going around claiming Jesus was the Messiah. But on the road to Damascus Jesus knocked him from his horse and blinded him (Acts 9) saying, “Why do you persecute me?” That got Saul’s attention, and he got the message. Jesus sent him to Damascus, and by Acts 9:20 Paul was preaching that Jesus was the Child of God.
Paul also offers Jesus’ credentials–that he was the one promised in the scriptures and that he had resin from the dead. At first Paul, along with Barnabas, preached Jesus and the resurrection in the synagogues. In the city of Pisidian Antioch, after the word of their teaching got out, practically the whole town showed up to hear the Good News (Acts 13), but the Jews rejected their teachings, so they turned their attentions to the Gentiles citing Isaiah 49:6, “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”
In verse 5 Paul talks about having received “grace.” The Greek word for grace is charis and means, according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life. Note again the faith/deed theme. Grace always describes some gift which is absolutely free and absolutely unearned, and which causes a positive change in the life of the recipient.
Especially note verse 6: “You also are among those who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.” Scripture serves more than one purpose–it is said there are at least three meanings to every verse– the obvious one which addresses a specific time and incident, a possible hidden meaning, and a general meaning meant to apply to all people through the generations. Paul makes the point that if you are reading this letter, it is because God has called you too, and you can belong to Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:7-15
To everyone in Rome: you are loved by God and called to be holy people: grace and peace to you from God our Parent, and from our Savior, Jesus Christ. First, I thank God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because the news of your faith is being spread all over the world. The God whom I serve with all of my being–God is my witness that I always remember you in all my prayers, and now, finally, I pray that, God willing, somehow I may soon be able to come to visit you. I long to see you that I might give to you a spiritual gift to strengthen you–that is, that you and I may be mutually uplifted by one another’s faith. I want you to know, brothers and sisters that I planned many times to come to you, but something always prevented me from doing so till now. I want to help you to grow as I have helped other Gentiles. I have an obligation to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and foolish. That’s why I’m so anxious to preach the Good News also to you who live in Rome.
Paul had never been to Rome. He had nothing to do with the Roman church’s founding, and he had no personal contact with it. If you study Paul’s other letters you will note that they address specific immediate problems as well as general issues, but Romans contains none. This is really to our advantage. Had he gone before the time of this writing, he probably would never have written out his theology–he would have vocalized it in person–and we might never have been privy to it.
Paul brings up the theme of mutual encouragement. How many people do you know who say, “I don’t have to go to church to worship God–I can worship God alone on a mountain, or by the seashore, or in the enjoyment of a beautiful sunset.” And they are correct, as far as they go. However, right from the very beginning God intended for people to be in community; from Genesis 2:18 “…it is not good for (humanity) to be alone…” to Matthew 18:20 “…where two or three are gathered in my name…” Paul admits that even his faith needs encouragement from time to time.
Romans 1:16-17
I am not ashamed of the Good News, because it contains the power of God to bring salvation to everyone who believes: first the Jew, and then the Gentile. For in that Good News, God’s justice is revealed–a justice that comes of faith and results in faith. As it is written, “those who live in right relationship with God do so by faith.”
The first fifteen verses of Romans deal with the preliminaries. In verses sixteen and seventeen Paul lays out the theme for his message. Powerful, powerful words. Paul states that the gospel (the Good News) is the power of God (and) gives salvation to everyone who believes. Here Paul is saying that if you believe I God, if you have faith in what is taught in the gospel, you will be in right relationship with God. You will have received salvation. You will be saved. The next seven chapters will demonstrate how this right relationship with God and salvation come about. Paul is establishing the pillars of his faith and belief.
“Salvation is yours.” Is there anyone who doesn’t want to know that they are “saved?” Yes, it’s true, even for those of you who don’t like that word. Perhaps a more comfortable word for you might be “safe.” Everyone wants to feel “safe.” That means we all want security. In this letter Paul will tell us how we can feel safe regardless of our circumstances.
Faith means belief. It means trust. It means acceptance. It means loyalty. Paul’s theme is that if we have total acceptance and absolute trust, God will not be found wanting. God will justify us, and we will be saved. Not only that! We’ll feel safe.
How do we get faith? We must become willing: willing to read or to listen–willing to accept what we’ve heard or read. Note that first comes the willingness, then the acceptance.
What do you mean, “God will justify us?” To be justified is to be declared innocent. The common usage of the concept of justification is to show a sufficient lawful reason for an act done, to prove or show to be right. However, Paul’s concept is different. When we are justified by God, it doesn’t mean that God proves that we were right in the things we’ve done. It means that God treats sinners as if they had not sinned at all. It means that God doesn’t see us as enemies, but as beloved children who make mistakes and are to be forgiven. We are declared justified, not because of anything that we have done, but because of what God has done. We can be in right relationship with God because we have faith in God’s love for us.
To Paul, the whole work of Jesus was to teach that salvation is a gift from God, not to be earned, but just to be accepted. Fear is gone and love had come. God is not the enemy, but the beloved and loving parent.
Romans 1:18-19
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.”
What can be scarier than to think about the “Wrath of God?” The term us used several times in scripture. However, those words can mean different things in different places. One really needs to go to the original languages to determine what the author was trying to convey. Often we think of wrath as defined as very angry, furious. But used here, the original word, orge, while it means passion, at its root is a concept of reaching out after–longing for. What that can mean is that while this passage indicates that God is upset and angry, even then, God’s anger is tempered by a desire to reach out. Have you ever been angry–furious even–at a loved one, yet at the same time you know in your heart that you still love them, and what you’re feeling is more hurt than anything else? That’s what is evident here in Paul’s reference to God’s wrath.
Why is God so upset? God is upset with people who suppress the truth about God–bury the evidence is how we would express it today. Suppress the truth? Bury the evidence? Is that possible? Who would dare?
Some might think that this passage refers only to atheists or pagans, but there’s more than one way to look at it. When clergy promote the message that God condemns homosexuality, when whole denominations close their doors to homosexuals, this passage resounds. Whenever the two-headed serpent of racism and anti-Semitism rears up, this passage resounds.
This passage is directed at people who suppress the truth about God, who have been shown the truth but have dismissed it, who have been shown the truth but have rejected it, who know the truth but who bend and manipulate it to foster their own agendas.
Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities–God’s eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
What is the truth of God? I think John said it best: “Whoever does not love, does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8). How many people have grown up with an image of a God who “was out to ‘get’ me?” Sad to say, there is a faction of Christianity that seems to have forgotten this passage, or they do acknowledge it, and follow it with “yes, but…” which in turn is followed by whatever is that denomination’s version of discrimination.
My MCC pastor told me this: “Whenever you see something in scripture that seems not to come from a loving God, put it on a shelf–Don’t throw it away, just put it on a shelf. Every little while take it down and look at it again. Till one day, you will have grown enough in the spirit to see it in a new and positive light.” That concept has worked for me.
Here in verses nineteen and twenty, Paul is saying that God has made a beautiful world. How can anyone look at all the intricacies of nature and not see the “Hand of God” at work? Some think that science rejects the notion of God. Yet, the more scientists learn of the world, the more we have to stand in awe of the Mind which created it. How can anyone study astronomy or geophysics, or even dissect a frog, and still think accidental random natural assembly created all this. Anyone accepting this theory can just as soon accept the idea that a tornado crossing a garbage dump could randomly build a jet airplane. How can we see the love and care that knows “each sparrow’s fall” and not believe in a God of limitless love?
Paul is saying that if you look at the world and all the wonderful things in it, God’s existence is self-evident. Just as a watch does not create itself, neither did the world create itself. Not only was the world created, it had to have been created in love. God’s invisible qualities–God’s power in creating the world–God’s divine nature that is, love–is clearly visible in that creation. The perfect evidence of God’s nature is embodied in Jesus, but that evidence will be made clearer in later chapters. So there is really no excuse not to know God or what God is like.
We’ve already seen how people who suppress the truth about God–about who God is–upset God. God is love personified. What God is like can be plainly seen by observing the beautiful world God created for you and me to live in.
Romans 1:21
For although they knew God, they neither glorified God as God nor gave thanks to God, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
From the beginning these people had knowledge of God, but over time they became blinded by the enticements of the world–a need for attention, greed or control–they lost sight of the God they knew. They forgot that the free gift of the grace of God is to be gratefully accepted with thanks. They began teaching that God’s love and forgiveness is something to be earned.
In my philosophy class in college, my professor led us down many pathways of thought, but they all ended up the same way–up against a brick wall. Philosophy insists that the answers we seek through philosophy must be something other than God. In the end, we discovered it couldn’t be done. The philosophy professor couldn’t or wouldn’t allow God into the equation, yet without God there was no solution to the philosophical dilemmas he presented. At least, that was my personal conclusion to the class. I did get an “A” in the class, which demonstrated that I knew and understood the material that was presented. However, deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, I held off sharing my conclusions with him till after my grade was in. Of course, Paul wasn’t talking about my college professor, but philosophical thought was already well established in Paul’s time. Also well established, not only in Paul’s time but throughout Jewish history was idolatry. It is of these people and their practices that Paul is referring to.
Romans 1:22-25
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like morals and bird and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things, rather than the Creator–Who is forever to be praised. Amen
Idolatry! Ask a religious Jewish person of the first century (and I’m sure the statement would stand today) what the greatest commandment is, and the answer would be: “Hear o Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one.” Ask the same person what the most grievous sin in the world is, the answer would be (summed up in a word): Idolatry. Whenever you read in scripture and you see the word abomination, 63 of the 67 times it is used in the Hebrew scriptures, the original language word meant “Something disgusting and especially idolatry.” The four times it is used in the New Testament, the original language word always meant idolatry. This is a very important point to understand. When something is called “An abomination” in scripture, it nearly always refers to “idolatry.” All those “abominations” in Leviticus refer to idolatry. And we can see here in Romans 1, Paul is pretty clear that he is talking about idolatry.
Romans 1:26a
“Because of this…”
Because of what? Idolatry
Romans 1:26b
“…God gave them over…”
The King James reads: “…God gave them up…” Today we might say that “God gave up on them.” Just about the greatest gift that God gave human beings is the gift of free will: the gift to choose. We talked about this earlier. God gives us free will, and God never takes that free will back. That’s why when we need God’s intercession in our lives, we must ask for it. That’s why we have to pray for God’s intercession–because God never intrudes–until we sincerely want God’s intercession in our hearts. With our free will we can reject God and go our own way and do whatever we want. Paul is saying that God let the idolaters do whatever it is they wanted. And this is what they did.
Romans 1:26c-27
“…to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”
Now, as you have just seen, the topic Paul is talking about is–what, everyone? Right! I-D-O-L-A-T-R-Y! Did I hear someone say this is a condemnation of homosexuality? That may be what a lot of your Sunday school teachers taught you. That may be what you heard your old pastors preach from their pulpits. But that’s not what Paul says. Give me a minute or two and I’ll first explain, then prove my thesis.
Remember that the Bible is a few thousand years old–going, if you will, from essentially the time of Moses and written in ancient languages. When Moses brought the people into the Promised Land, God had instructed them to remove the (Canaanite) people who were living there. The Israelites didn’t do that and soon got involved in Canaanite religious worship and practices. The thing is, while the Bible tells us that the Israelites were not to participate in idolatrous practices, it didn’t shed much light onto what they were. We read, for example in Leviticus, Chapter 18, verse 3: “You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.”
There follows a list of Canaanite practices, including in Lev. 18:22: “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is abomination” (KJV)
Well, now, that sounds like a pretty clear condemnation of homosexuality, doesn’t it? Except for that last word: Abomination. Didn’t we just learn that the word means idolatry? Yep, it do! What’s going on? Well, I’ll tell ya.
There are several reasons why your Sunday school teacher and former or other pastors took what was written at face value. Until 1928 no one knew what the Canaanite idolatrous religious practices were. That year a farmer clearing his field hit a rock and when he moved it, he uncovered a huge hole in the ground. He ran and told authorities and they got archaeologists to start digging around and soon they uncovered a whole town, a Canaanite town, called Ugarit. In this town they discovered a library. And in this library they discovered, you guessed it, texts, which described Canaanite idolatrous religious practices. One of the common practices is referred to today as “cult” or “temple prostitution.” To worship the goddess a person would go to the temple and find a priest for a man or a priestess for a woman and engage in sex with them. The purpose of this sexual encounter was somehow supposed to improve fertility. That’s what Leviticus 18:22 condemns. That is, it is saying: “Do not lie with a male cult prostitute as you would with a woman, that is idolatry.” It is this same practice that Paul is talking about in Romans 1. The idolaters were engaging in cultic temple prostitution (idol worship).
Now, though this hole in the ground was found in 1928, it took many years to do all the digging up and the finding, then the translating. The information has been slow to trickle down to the masses, especially to those to whom this is of little consequence. They’ve got more important matters to worry about. Then, too, it is very difficult to get people to change their cherished beliefs, especially those who cling to their King James Versions of scripture, (which was written some 300 years prior to 1928).
In the last 40 or so years, many denominations have undertaken to assign a group or committee to study the issue of homosexuality in the Bible. Without exception, I believe, these groups and committees, upon completion of their research, approached their denominations and said to the effect that their church needed to change their doctrines as it pertained to homosexuality. However, most chose to ignore the reports and findings of their own committees in favor of the status quo. Other denominations have taken the results of the research to heart and have decided to welcome Gays and Lesbians into their folds.
A little while ago I told you I would explain how it is that the subject usually thought of as condemnation of homosexuality in the scripture is actually idolatry, and then I said I’d prove my thesis. Of course, I can refer you to the many books written about Ugarit and the Ugaritic Texts, which cover a lot more than just cult prostitution, but I’ll offer a very simple, but I think, very effective proof. The best proof I can offer of scripture is scripture itself.
Remember that the King James Version of the Bible is the most popular translation of all time–but it is not the most accurate in many ways–A lot having to do with modern archaeological discoveries. Let me refer you to Deuteronomy, 23:17. The King James Version, written in 1611, reads: “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.” It is easy to see that the text is saying that Jewish women are not to be prostitutes, and Jewish men are not to be what some people would assume means homosexuals. The “New International Version,” translated in the 1970’s reads, “No Israelite man or woman is to become a temple prostitute.” The recently translated “New King James Version” of the same passage reads: “There shall be no ritual harlot of the daughters of Israel, or a perverted one of the sons of Israel.” Then there is a footnote, which explains, “…That is, one practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals.” What was written of in Deuteronomy and Leviticus and Romans was all the same thing–idolatry. The condemnation is idolatry and idolatrous practices which included homosexual as well as heterosexual behavior as forms of idol worship.
With all the evidence in existence today that what the Bible condemns is idolatry and not homosexuality, I can’t help but think that those who ignore the facts and cling to their cherished but outdated concepts are again “suppressing” the truth about God since what may be known about God (and who God does and does not condemn) is plain to them because God had made it plain to them (in the discovery of the Ugaritic Texts). “…Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools… They exchanged the truth of God (Who is Love) for a lie, (that God condemns homosexuals) and worshipped and served created things…. (Their own ideas about who God condemns)… Rather than the Creator–Who is forever to be praised. Amen.”
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (NIV)
Wow! Quite a laundry list, eh? Paul doesn’t paint a pretty picture of people who reject God, does he? Now, I know that there are some who use this section as a description of what happens to people who “fall–or are led–into homosexuality.” I have heard preachers teach that the horrible result of being a homosexual is that one succumbs to all of this wickedness and evil merely be being gay. And I’m sad to say that in some Christian circles they believe that this Laundry list of evil is their definition of Homosexuality.
This is the precise reason rejecting churches need to open their doors to Gay people–the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Transgendered) community. We have a lot to teach them. To know us is to love us! That’s why coming out of the closet is so important. Just think. If every GLBT person in all of these rejecting churches came out–Yes, we are indeed everywhere–We’d almost instantaneously put the lie to those who think that this passage applies to us.
Any honest person would have to say to him/herself, “Wait a minute, now. I know John/Mary. They are kind, caring, and compassionate people. He/she helped me when I was in trouble, gave me a ride to work when my car broke down, taught my son how to play ball, helped me feed the homeless, etc., etc., etc. Their lives are not filed with wickedness, evil, greed or depravity. Something’s wrong with this picture.” Multiply this picture a million-fold of everyday positive examples given or performed by people in the GLBT Community–then where does this passage fit in? It doesn’t.
Is the scripture wrong? No. Only the interpretation. Most times the Bible has a very sensible approach. If it makes simple sense, then you’re probably on the right track on your understanding of what it is telling you. Most important guideline: Does it sound like it comes from a loving God? Then you’re probably on the right track.
On the other hand, does it appear to exclude a whole community of people? Then your understanding is probably misinformed. Does it seem to tear down, rather than build up? Then you’re probably going in the wrong direction. Does it take away from one group in order to give to another group? There’s something wrong with that picture.
Am I saying that the Bible is wrong? Not on your life! I believe the Bible was inerrant in the original languages and the culture and times during which it was written. However, the Bible has been translated and retranslated innumerable times–culture and language are constantly changing–so that today a simple reading isn’t always going to tell you what the Bible’s authors really meant. A short example: The King James Version of Mark 6:25 reads: “I will that thou give my by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.”
In today’s language, “Bye and bye” means “in a little while, when you get around to it.” And a charger could be a horse, a device for powering up batteries, or someone with a “No-limit” credit card. The New International (modern) Version reads: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” As a matter of fact, The New King James Version translation of “Bye and bye” reads “At once!”
The Bible didn’t change, our language did. This example is a very small point, to be sure. I doubt that knowing that Herod’s Stepdaughter wanted John’s head immediately rather than later is going to be an impediment to anyone’s salvation. What is important is that we realize that just reading what the scripture says on the face of it, isn’t always enough. Very often one needs to go to a secondary source to determine what is actually meant–as we discovered last week in going to the Ugaritic Texts, and as we have done by going back to the original languages.
This is an especially important point to remember when you are reading scripture when it seems that what you are reading sounds hurtful to you or to someone you care for. I’m speaking now primarily to the GLBT community, but it also applies to anyone who has had the burden of negative translation placed on their shoulders. If what you are reading seems detrimental to you, then you need to do more research. Sometimes the first step in that process means simply that you must put it aside for the time being. Notice that I said, “Put it away.” Don’t throw it away! You must never throw scripture away. But there is nothing wrong in putting it aside. (You can always come back to it later when you’ve grown more spiritually.) Don’t let what you don’t understand or can’t accept be a stumbling block to your Bible study. The greatest scholars the world has ever known don’t understand everything the Bible has to say. Choose any commentary you want–use any researcher you know or have heard about…read any translation you choose… sooner or later you will come to something the scholars will say…”well, we’re not sure about this–We don’t know for sure what this means…this is our best guess…(or words to that effect).” They don’t let these stumbling blocks get in their way of learning what God has for them through their research and study–and neither should you! Of course there are always those who seem to have answers for everything, so don’t rely on–one who will never disappoint you–one you can trust implicitly: The one Jesus called “The Counselor…The spirit of truth” (John 14: 16 & 17). We will see how the Holy Spirit works when we delve further into Romans, but let me say this.
I may have said this in an earlier study, but if I did, it bears repeating. To me divine inspiration, means much more than just the fact that God inspired people to write down what God wanted human beings to know when they wrote the Bible. For me, divine inspiration is the living work of God today in the person of The Holy Spirit leading and guiding us into all the truth.
The Bible is God’s tool for direct communication with you–the Spirit’s personal interaction with you, opening up your mind and heart to learn what God wants to reveal to you. That’s why no one can do this for you. It is my prayer that God is using me to help guide and direct you, but ultimately, you must go directly to the Bible itself and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you personally. Only the Spirit knows your heart of hearts. Only the Spirit knows how you understand. And the Spirit is able to make you understand what God wants you to know. Don’t allow anyone to put a stumbling block between you and God.
You know what! I am bold to make this promise to you–but I do so without any fear of contradiction! If you study the scripture and don’t let anything or anybody get in your way, your life will change in ways you never dreamed possible! Before long, you will see things in a way you never imagined you could. You will understand things in a way you never believed possible. The reason? You will recognize the Holy Spirit’s presence in your–Yes, I mean you–in your life. And nothing can disarm the power of the so-called “Religious Right” over you faster than the knowledge that you’ve got the Holy Spirit with you and working on your side. And if you know god is on your side–Who cares what anyone else has to say or what they think?
True, their words can be hurtful and their negativity can string, but when you’re wearing the armor of God Ephesians 6:10, you might feel the blow, but it won’t cut you down or cripple you. When they toss these scripture passages at you, you’ll know Paul wasn’t speaking about you.
Well, if Paul wasn’t defining homosexuals, what was he trying to say here? I believe Paul was giving a description of what happens to people who reject God. A phrase I use a lot is, “What you focus on is what you give power to.” If you don’t have God to focus on, your mind and spirit is open to all kinds of negativity. Jesus gave an analogy in Matthew 12:43-45 of an unclean spirit coming back to a “clean house” it had previously left. Finding it clean but empty the evil spirit brings in seven more spirits, more evil than itself and they go in and live there. “And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”
A spiritual house clean and empty of God is ripe pickings for evil spirits, who will come in and dwell and bring with them “…every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity….” When you take God out of your life you take out hope, joy, compassion, respect. Really, you take out reasons for living. And when you have so little value in your own life, you’ll soon see little value in the loves of others. Disrespect for others, leads to heartlessness and ruthlessness.
Now, doesn’t this make sense? If God is love, and if you remove God from your life, you remove love. What is the opposite of love? (No, it’s not hate.) The opposite of love is indifference. You don’t care. You don’t care for yourself. You don’t care for others. Not caring for others opens the door for you to using others, taking advantage of them, doing evil to them. Spiritual houses don’t remain “empty” very long. If they’re not focused on filling up with God, then they will be filled with God’s opposite.