Accountability

As Christians most of us will find ourselves either becoming a mentor/accountability partner or trying to find one. While this concept may seem pretty straight forward I think that there are still some things that we can learn on this topic. Nick just developed a teaching module for a class he is taking on the subject of accountability partners. I learned a lot from it and maybe you will too. Keep in mind that this was written according to the guidelines set forth by Nick's professor. Enjoy!

Growth Through Accountability: A Three-Day Seminar on Accountability Partnerships
The decision to follow Jesus is completely personal. Nobody can make that decision for another person. However, even though the initial decision rests completely on the individual (after the drawing and conviction of the Holy Spirit of course), the ensuing journey of faith and growth is not meant to be travelled alone. One way the Christian community is to strengthen its individual members is by keeping each believer mindful of the fact that he or she is accountable to God and the body of Christ. In the last few decades the practice of having an accountability partner has developed and gained popularity in facilitating this goal.
Improper use of this practice, both unintentional and through abuse, is damaging to the individual’s faith and has caused some to question the validity of accountability partnerships in general. To be sure, some guidance is needed to conduct such relationships properly. Over the next three days this group will learn lessons vital to the proper implementation of accountability partnerships. Each day will contain a lecture followed by small group discussions based on that day’s lecture (Note: The first day’s lecture will be longer than the other two as it will also serve as an introduction to the topic.).

Day One: Accountability partner parameters
Will individuals be held accountable for their actions? Should believers make themselves accountable to other believers? What qualities should be present in someone wanting to be an accountability partner? This session will answer these questions.
God will indeed hold every person accountable for his or her thoughts, words, actions and intentions (Matthew 12:36, Luke 16:1-2, Romans 3:19, 14:7, 1 Peter 4:3-4). Romans 1:18-32 gives helpful insight to this fact. According to Paul God’s right to hold each person accountable stems from the fact that He is the creator of the all things. Since He is the creator He has the right to hold his creation responsible for meeting His standards. Man’s accountability to God is even reflected in one of the titles God has in the Old Testament. In Ezekiel 48:35 God is called The Lord is Here (Jehovah-Shamah). This title infers a God who is always present, observing all, aware of every thought and action (Sumrall, 1993). God will not hold us accountable for only a few things He happens to catch, but for every thought and deed.
Hebrews 9:27 says every person will die and then face God’s judgment. Even those who deny that humanity is accountable to God and those who deny God’s existence altogether will be held accountable. A person’s preference or opinion has no effect on the reality of accountability. Thankfully, those shortcomings and sins for which we will be held accountable can be forgiven because of the work of Jesus.
Each person is ultimately accountable to God alone. However, believers must recognize that their actions affect other people as well. Bruce (1985) says “each Christian’s life affects his fellow-Christians and his fellow-men and women in general; therefore he should consider his responsibility to them” (p. 232). As stated earlier, the Christian journey was never intended to be a solo venture. We affect each other. Believers can build or hinder the faith of others. It is true that “The process of learning to know God and becoming like him is one which is assisted by others in the faith community” (Collinson, 2005, p. 246). Since each person’s life affects the lives and faith of others, one should feel accountable to other believers. In addition to a general sense of accountability to the community, it is beneficial for believers to make themselves accountable to a specific believer in a more intensive way.
Not every believer has the qualities necessary to be an effective accountability partner. James 3:1 says, “Not may of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” James’ explicit reference is to teachers, but the underlying principle applies to accountability partners as well. Those whose role in the body directly influences the faith of others must demonstrate a higher degree of trustworthiness and ability. An accountability partner should be a person with a strong and growing relationship with Jesus, possessing strong character, relational and approachable. This list is not exhaustive, but will serve in this seminar to outline the most essential qualities.
The first necessity is that one should have a healthy growing relationship with Jesus. This should be obvious. One of the primary rules of leadership on any level is that nobody can lead people where he or she has not been. If a person does not have a genuine and intimate relationship with Jesus he or she will not be able to fully help others grow in faith regardless of teaching or counseling ability. There must be a deep knowledge of scripture from which the accountability partner can draw to give correct guidance. The potential partner must also be faithful in prayer, both for the one being mentored and for him or herself to have wisdom, insight and compassion.
The potential accountability partner must also be a person of high character. He or she must be full of integrity, known to be honest and willing to do what is right regardless of the cost. Tony Dungy (2010), a professional football coach known for his great leadership on and off the field says, “Character is the foundation on which all leadership is built” (p. 69), and later points out that people can always spot a person with phony character. Character cannot be proven overnight. Therefore, as Jesus taught in Luke 16:10, one should prove his or her character and faithfulness in smaller areas before becoming an accountability partner (Garland, 1992). Both in regards to character and spiritual depth the accountability partner’s life should be such that he or she is comfortable saying to the one being mentored, “And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).
Many church leaders are dynamic public speakers, prolific teachers and skilled administrators and organizers; yet struggle with developing meaningful one-on-one relationships. Those seeking to be an accountability partner, however, should be gifted in forming deep, long term relationships. According to McDowell and Hostetler (1994) biblical morality is really all about relationship. Morality is a set of guidelines to govern our relationships with God and fellow man. They go on to say it is impossible to offer truth and moral guidance outside of genuine relationship and therefore, “Anyone who wishes to pass on biblical values to someone else must begin by developing a strong, positive relationship with that person” (p. 123). Accountability partnerships are primarily about aiding a believer’s growth through a trusting and intimate relationship; therefore one must be prone to strong interpersonal relationships to be an effective accountability partner.
Part of being a relational person is being approachable. An accountability partner should not be arrogant, harsh, abrasive, or in any way make someone feel intimidated. Relationship cannot exist only in scheduled meetings so an accountability partner must be accessible often and at unexpected times. According to Dungy (2010) “Being available and approachable is necessary for effective leadership” (p. 90). This applies to leading groups as well as leading individuals in accountability partnerships.
These parameters and guidelines for an accountability partner should not be seen as lofty, unattainable ideals or mere suggestions. The necessity of these qualities must be recognized and anyone seeking to be an accountability partner who does not possess these qualities should prioritize their development in his or her life immediately. These parameters are important for two reasons. First, these things are a vital part of ensuring the person being mentored receives proper instruction and guidance from the accountability partner. These parameters ensure the accountability partner is rooted in Christ, genuine, knowledgeable, and has the other person’s interests in mind. The second reason is that these qualities, proven over time, cause the individual to have greater trust in his or her accountability partner. A trusting, honest relationship is absolutely vital to open communication, which is the foundation of accountability.
Form small groups and discuss the following questions.
1) Will Christians be held to a higher level of accountability than non-believers (John 9:41)?
2) Why is it important for a potential partner to be actively growing in his or her own faith?
3) Is being relationally minded purely nature or can it be learned. If it can be learned, how so?
4) What are some practical ways a person can ensure he or she is approachable?

Day two: The accountability partner’s role in spiritual battles
Now that we understand the value of accountability and what kind of person the task requires, we turn our attention to one of the most important roles of the accountability partner. Accountability partner, pastor, therapist and coach are all roles that are intended to cause inner growth in individuals. The responsibilities of an accountability partner overlap those of similar positions in many ways, yet there are some differences that distinguish it as separate from the others. A pastor leads larger groups and, realistically, cannot invest in every member of his or her congregation the time required of an accountability partner. A therapist is more focused on mental and emotional growth than spiritual growth and is not as relational in nature. A coach is perhaps the most similar to accountability partner, but is different in that a coach allows the client to define all the goals instead of scripture. Also, like a therapist, a coach’s role in growth may have nothing to do with spirituality and is more professional than relational. In short, an accountability partner’s objective is to promote spiritual growth in another believer through close personal relationship.
One of the primary roles of an accountability partner in meeting this objective is to assist the believer in gaining victory in spiritual battles. The source of the battle may be external spiritual attack (Ephesians 6:11, 1 Peter 5:8-9) or internal temptations (James 1:14). Regardless of the source of the struggle it is the accountability partner’s responsibility to fight along side the individual and assist in attaining victory.
Spiritual battles are exhausting and can quickly overwhelm a believer. When this happens and the believer has no support system he or she may give up and become defeated. The enemy may use the guilt of defeat in one area to attack one’s faith altogether. Therefore, it is necessary that an accountability partner be aware of battles the individual is fighting and join with the individual. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 accepts the reality of struggles and stumbling. It says we should pity the person who has no support system, but that two people joined in a fight together have much better odds of victory.
This reality is played out in Exodus 17. In this chapter Moses sends Joshua to lead the Israelites in battle against the Amelekites. Moses watched from a hilltop and noticed when his hands were raised Israel gained the upper hand, but when he lowered his hands they began to lose. This was not a short battle and Moses’ arms grew very tired. Thankfully, he had Aaron and Hur there to support him. They did not simply encourage him to keep his hands up or tell him they were praying for him. They literally held Moses’ hands up and allowed him to rest. Being an accountability partner requires more than saying encouraging clichés and coming up with a scripture memory chart. It often requires getting involved in a person’s life, physically intervening in situations and helping a person function when he or she is too exhausted to do it alone.
An accountability partner must keep in mind that while relationship is crucial to the process, the relationship has a goal, the growth of the individual. Collinson (2005) uses the word discipling to describe the same process and says, “Discipling is not pure friendship. The purpose of the relationship is that teaching will take place and that learning will occur” (p. 241). Being an accountability partner is more than being a supportive friend. If the two parties get together often but never engage in spiritual battle victory will not be gained.
One way an accountability partner assists the believer in gaining spiritual victory is by changing the person’s mindset from defeat to victory. Spiritual battles are often won or lost in the mind. When a person becomes convinced he or she will not gain victory defeat is around the corner. However, if the person can maintain hope of victory even in the midst of battle, he or she will keep fighting and is much more likely to attain victory. The battle must be won in the mind before it is realized in the actual situation. Bridges (1996) points out that one cannot change actions without first changing the will. Therefore, an important aspect of being an accountability partner is ensuring the believer maintains the will to see victory.
An accountability partner can also assist the believer in attaining victory by keeping the believer’s goals a central part of his or her daily life. Often, the spiritual battles one faces correspond directly to stated goals. For example, one of the most common spiritual battles concerns apathy towards and neglect of spiritual disciplines. This is a subtle battle that plagues more Christians than not. The individual may state he or she has a goal of praying at a certain time each day, reading a certain amount of scripture per day, and fasting a certain number of days a month. The accountability partner should strive to keep these goals at the forefront of the believer’s mind. In this sense accountability partnership is similar to coaching. McCluskey (2008) says a large part of coaching is encouraging people to attain their goals (vision) by holding onto them when the individual becomes distracted or discouraged. In summary, an accountability partner serves to help the believer attain spiritual victory through prayer, support, encouragement, maintaining goals and in some cases involvement in specific situations.
Form small groups and discuss the following questions.
1) How does an accountability partner’s role in spiritual battles relate to Paul’s teaching on the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:12-26?
2) What are some ways one can keep a fellow believer in a healthy mindset?
3) Share an example of a time when you assisted another believer in a spiritual battle and what you did to assist the other person.

Day three: Accountability partner responsibilities
Being an accountability partner is dynamic and each relationship must be tailored to the specific individual. There are, however, several principles and practices that should be part of every accountability partnership. Some have already been mentioned; such as ensuring the relationship maintains forward movement towards goal achievement and being supportive during spiritual battles. Some other keys to successful accountability are maintaining a proper perspective of the partnership, the Holy Spirit’s role in the process, the importance of intercessory prayer, and setting specific attainable goals.
One thing that is paramount to successful accountability is that the one acting as the accountability partner must maintain a humble, non-judgmental attitude and facilitate a horizontal relationship. In Philippians 2:1-11 Paul encourages this and says Jesus exemplified the humility believers should strive for. The accountability partner should be more spiritually mature and knowledgeable than the one being mentored, however the relationship must never be viewed as that of a master over a slave, or even a teacher over a student. The accountability partner does not wield power or authority over the believer, and the believer is not seeking to obey the accountability partner. Collinson (2005) says, “Discipling is not about the exercise of personal power. Christian disciplers do not make their own disciples. They point their learners to Jesus as master” (p. 247). The purpose of the relationship is not to prove how spiritual the partner is or for the partner to feel important. The accountability partner should not be concerned with receiving any credit for the believer’s growth but should simply rejoice with the believer as he or she grows (Romans 12:15). When Christian mentoring and accountability are done properly the accountability partner is not the focus and therefore does receive credit (Dungy, 2010). The individual should receive credit for his or her hard work and persistence and ultimately God, not man, must be glorified.
Part of this humility is avoiding a judgmental attitude. Romans 14 discusses the fact that Christian liberty can be a sign of maturity and growth, but insists that mature believers not become judgmental of those with weaker faith. Instead, he suggests believers alter their actions to assist the weaker ones in growth. As stated earlier, being approachable is vital to maintaining this kind of relationship and approachability excludes judgment.
The accountability partner must keep in mind that the growth of the individual does not depend entirely on his or her performance. Ultimately the accountability partner is simply a tool through whom the Holy Spirit works. Therefore one would be wise to keep in mind the role of the Holy Spirit in this process. It is the Spirit that comforts during hardships (John 16:7), convicts the believer of sin (John 16:8), leads the believer to truth (John 16:13) teaches the believer to pray (Romans 8:26) and speaks to the heart of the believer that he or she belongs to God (Romans 8:16). Therefore the partner must rely on the Holy Spirit to cause real change in the believer.
Also, the accountability partner must rely on the leading of the Holy Spirit in every situation. The Holy Spirit may enable the partner to discern the truth of a situation the believer is confused about. At other times the Holy Spirit may give the partner insight into what is hindering the believer’s growth. Sometimes an act that is morally neutral, and therefore goes unnoticed by the believer, becomes a stumbling block to the believer. Bridges (1996) says “It may not be the activity itself that determines whether something is sinful for us, but rather our response to that activity” (p. 89). In these cases the partner must rely on the leading of the Holy Spirit to reveal truth and draw the individual to repentance.
Another task of the accountability partner is intercessory prayer. The partner may be used by God to encourage and offer wise advice, but it is God alone that causes change and gives victory. Therefore the accountability partner must pray often and consistently for the believer. This should happen in the presence of the believer as well as in personal prayer times. When meeting with the believer the accountability partner should note specific areas of struggle, goals, concerns and other details so that he or she can pray in a specific and informed way for the believer. Also, it is often during intercessory prayer that the Holy Spirit gives guidance and insight to the partner.
One final thing an accountability partner should be purposeful about is helping the believer identify specific but attainable goals. Garland (1992) points out that leaders who develop the ability to identify both long term and short range goals for people they are leading are much more effective in facilitating positive change in individuals. These goals should be biblically based and focused on facilitating spiritual growth in the believer. The accountability partner is not responsible for helping the believer improve at free throws, but for helping him or her draw closer to Christ and exhibit a more Christ-like life. Establishing goals gives the believer direction, offers something specific to work towards and encourages him or her with clear progress. When the only direction is to “be better” the believer has no real way to know if progress is being made. However, when there are clearly defined goals, such as spend 20 minutes a day in prayer and meditation, the believer has a definite sense of progress when those goals are met.
Form small groups and discuss the following questions.
1) What are some other specific actions and principles an accountability partner should intentionally implement?
2) What is God’s view of leaders who abuse their power and lord their position over others (Matthew 20:25)?
3) In what ways does the Holy Spirit lead the accountability partner? What are the means of communication He may use (i.e. subtle inner leadings, scripture, etc)?
4) Discuss further why having goals and a direction to move towards is so important (Proverbs 29:18). Share some of you personal goals with the group and how you plan to achieve those goals.





References
Bridges, J. (1996). The pursuit of holiness. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.
Bruce, F. F. (1985). The letter of Paul to the Romans: An introduction and commentary. Leicester, Englad: Inter-Varsity Press.
Collinson, S. W. (2005). Making disciples and the Christian faith. Evangelical Review of Theology, 29(3), 240-250.
Dungy, T. (2010). The mentor leader: Secrets to building people and teams that win consistently. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House.
Garland, K. R. (1992). Leadership recruitment and training. In M. J. Anthony (Ed.), Foundations of ministry: An introduction to Christian education for a new generation (pp. 255-266). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
McCluskey, C. (2008). A Christian therapist-turned-coach discusses his journey and the field of life coaching. Journal of Psychology & Christianity, 27(3), 266-269.
McDowell, J., & Hostetler, B. (1994). Right from wrong: What you need to know to help youth make right choices. Dallas, TX: Word.
Sumrall, L. (1993). The names of God: God’s character revealed through his names. New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House.

I am free to be better

Romans 3:9-20 Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. 10 As the Scriptures say,
“No one is righteous—
not even one.
11 No one is truly wise;
no one is seeking God.
12 All have turned away;
all have become useless.
No one does good,
not a single one.”[ Pss 14:1-3; 53:1-3]
13 “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their tongues are filled with lies.”
“Snake venom drips from their lips.”[ Pss 5:9; 140:3]
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”[ Ps 10:7]
15 “They rush to commit murder.
16 Destruction and misery always follow them.
17 They don’t know where to find peace.”[ Isa 59:7-8]
18 “They have no fear of God at all.”[ Ps 36:1]
19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

Paul puts together a series of OT scriptures to illustrate how no one is right in God’s eyes. The objector may say that many of these references when read in context are referring to Gentiles so it doesn’t apply to Jews. This is why Paul makes the statement in vs 19. As a mom I find myself saying this type of thing to my kids all of the time. “Adi, what did I just tell Calvin? If he has to share then you have to share too.”
Vs 20 leaves humanity in a dire situation. As F.F. Bruce says, “The law brings out men and women’s sinfulness, but does nothing to cure it.” No one can live up to the standard of God. We all stand before him guilty and in need of grace. Gal 2:16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”
Gal 3:11 So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Vs 21-22 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
We suddenly have a new way to righteousness before God. We are no longer burdened by the unattainable standard of the law. This new way isn’t just made up. It is foreshadowed and prophesied about in the OT. Ps 32:1-5 David speaks of the forgiveness of sins.
Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin,
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
Interlude

5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

In the next chapter Paul will discuss the specific example of Abraham.
Paul has made it very clear in chapter two that we all are guilty of sin and require the same judgment no matter who we are. Here the converse is true. We are all made right with God if we have faith in Jesus no matter who we are.

Vs 23-26 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
Gen 15:6 says that Abraham’s faith was credited to Him as righteousness. They had faith in the promises they had received from God that someday there would be a way of salvation. God showed His amazing patience and grace by withholding punishment from those who lived before Christ came and died. God’s righteousness demands justice, however so there had to be a payment for sins committed. God vindicated His own character and freed us from the debt of our sin in one act. He gave His son, Jesus, to take our punishment. So even though God withheld judgment from those who showed faith before Christ, it was in anticipation of what God knew was going to happen. Through the death of Christ God displays His mercy and his righteousness because He declares us righteous when we have faith in Him. It wouldn’t work for God to simply overlook our sin. That would compromise His perfection, but because our debt is paid we can be made righteous by believing in what Jesus did for us. Hallelujah!

Vs 27-28 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
This reiterates to the Jew that they hold nothing over the Gentile. Everyone is saved by faith in God’s merciful act. Those who have grown up in the church and pretty much all we know is Christianity need to be reminded that we have nothing to take pride in. I love the phrase, “there but for the grace of God, go I.” (Attributed to John Bradford said while watching a prisoner headed to execution.) If it weren't for God's saving grace I would be no different than those headed to hell all around me.

Vs 29-31 After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. 30 There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. 31 Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.

If salvation could come by keeping the law then God would be the God of the Jews since He gave the law to them. Since salvation comes by faith then God is the God of all who believe. The law is not pointless. It is the first half of the equation. Without the second half we are in dire straights. The law constantly pointed us to our need for a savior. It caused us to become aware of our inability to meet God’s standards. The Gospel is the glorious second half of the equation. It fulfills the law. The sum of the equation is that now, by faith, we are able to do a better job fulfilling the law; not in order to be saved, but as a response to the grace shown us.

So what's the point?

Romans 3

Vs 1-2 Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the ceremony of circumcision? 2 Yes, there are great benefits! First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God.
So far Paul has gone to great lengths to show that it’s not lineage or circumcision that saves us. Just like Nick said last week, it’s not the T-shirt that makes you a UFC fan. So now Paul addresses a question from unseen objectors. We would almost expect Paul to answer, “no, there is no benefit to being a Jew or circumcision since righteousness is a matter of the heart.” Instead he says that there are great benefits. What kind of advantages or privileges were/are afforded to the Jewish nation? One great example is the way that God gives them victory in battle. There are myriad of examples of this in the Old Testament, but let's look at a few modern examples. There have been 4 modern wars initiated by the Arab nations against Israel. In 1948 Israel regained it's sovereignty as a nation. In this war Israel didn't have a single cannon or tank and they had only 9 obsolete planes. Since they had very limited ammunition they often dropped bottles filled with rocks from the planes rather than bombs. Despite these and the overwhelming odds in military numbers, Israel won it's independence and with more land than they would have had if peace treaties had been signed. In 1973 Egypt and Syria aided by at least nine Arab states, launched a surprise attack on Israel during it's holiest day of the year. The odds were astronomically against Israel. 180 Israeli tanks faced off against 1,400 Syrian tanks and 436 Israeli soldiers were attacked by 80,000 Egyptians. Israel expelled the enemy military in 2 days and were on the verge of destroying Egypt's military within 2 weeks when a cease fire was initiated. I would never ever want to be on the wrong side of a fight with Israel!
The most important honor, however, would be that God entrusted them with the truth about Himself. While this was a great privilege and honor it was also a great responsibility. If they mishandled the information or misrepresented the God they were chosen by they would be held more accountable than those to which God had not chosen to reveal himself. This great blessing could also be a great burden. Author Shalom Aleichem (Rabinowitz), is credited with saying, "God, I know we are your chosen people, but couldn't you choose somebody else for a change?"

Vs 3-4 True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? 4 Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him,
“You will be proved right in what you say,
and you will win your case in court.”
The objector appears to be saying that Israel wasn’t faithful. Paul answers this by saying that their unfaithfulness does not negate God’s faithfulness. Instead, the contrast shows God’s faithfulness to be all the more great. This could be carried out to every possible example we can think of. Our lack of love shows God is love. Our imperfection shows His perfection, our impatience shows His patience. God is the ultimate, perfect version of everything that is good about us and everything at which we fail.
Psalm 51:4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.

Vs 5-8 “But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.) 6 Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how would he be qualified to judge the world? 7 “But,” someone might still argue, “how can God condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?” 8 And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.
This seems to be the logical outcome of this argument. If God’s greatness is shown to be even more great by my sin then why does he punish me for sinning? If we are saved by faith and not by works then why is it a problem for us to keep on sinning? In Paul’s time many were accusing him of teaching this sort of Gospel. He taught so hard against salvation by works that some began to think that he was teaching that it didn’t matter how you lived as long as you had faith in God. Is it possible to have saving faith and continue to live in sin? No, if there is true faith there will be change...not perfection, but some sort of exterior indicator of what has happened on the inside.
James 2:25-26 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 26 Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.
We will address this topic even more when we get to Romans 6.

It's what you do with what you know...

Romans 2:12-16 When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God’s written law. And the Jews, who do have God’s law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it. For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight. Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life.

As we discussed in chapter one, everyone knows the truth of God whether it’s by observing the creator through His creation, the conscience inside of us, or by the written law. Not only that, but each of us shows that we are unable to live up to the standard of God. Romans 3:23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. The Gentiles are not held accountable for what they don’t know. They are only held accountable for what they do with what knowledge they have. I.E. If they knew by their conscience that lying was wrong and they lied then they will be held accountable for that.
It may be easy for us to look down on others thinking that we are somehow better than they are because we have heard the truth of the Gospel. Many Jews did the same thing with the law. Having the law does not make one elite. It holds us more accountable. James 4:17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
The word conscience was only a spoken term until shortly before the Christian era. It referred to the sense of being aware of what was right and wrong. Paul may be the first to use it as an independent witness that examines and passes judgment on the soul. As Christians the Holy Spirit enlightens our conscience making it’s voice stronger and its guidance better. How does our conscience affect our lives as Christians? God gives us the Holy Spirit to be our guide. Do we ignore that uneasy feeling when we join in gossip or stretch the truth? By listening to our conscience in even the smallest areas on a daily basis we can grow to be more Christ like.

Vs 17-23 You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God’s law, and you boast about your special relationship with him. 18 You know what he wants; you know what is right because you have been taught his law. 19 You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness. 20 You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that God’s law gives you complete knowledge and truth. Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal? 22 You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you commit adultery? You condemn idolatry, but do you use items stolen from pagan temples? 23 You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.”

F.F. Bruce says, “You glory in the law, but in fact your disobedience to the law brings you and the God whom you worship into disrepute among the pagans.”
Don’t we do the same? We act as if we have all of the answers and we are here to tell everyone else how they should live their lives. One of the biggest reasons people reject God is because of hypocrites. This goes back to the discussion we had a few weeks ago about judging. There is a difference between instructing the world on God’s law and sharing the truth of the Gospel. We cannot tell a sinner to stop acting like a sinner. They don’t know any better. There are some who devote themselves to learning scripture inside and out. They can recite it, exegete it, and teach it, but they don’t have relationship with God. Knowing the Bible so well may give them a sense of superiority, but it does them no good. I Cor 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge…., but do not have love, I am nothing.

Vs 24 is a reference to Is 52:5 What is this?” asks the LORD. “Why are my people enslaved again? Those who rule them shout in exultation. My name is blasphemed all day long. The Jews in exile caused Gentiles to think less of their God. The Gentiles thought, if the Jews were enduring such misfortune than their God must be powerless. Once again the Gentiles had reason to think less of the God of the Jews because of the behavior of His people.

We explain away the things that we do wrong. My little sin isn’t as bad as their big sin. The Bible says that if you even look at a person with lust you have committed adultery. If you hate someone in your heart you have committed murder. This is not about becoming legalistic or heaping on guilt. It’s about not fooling ourselves into thinking that we have it all together. It’s about knowing that we haven’t “arrived”. We are still in the process of purification and sanctification. It’s about humbling ourselves and saying, “God’s not finished with me yet.”

Vs 25-29 The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile. 26 And if the Gentiles obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people? 27 In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possess God’s law but don’t obey it.
28 For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. 29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

Paul is again leveling the playing field between Jew and Gentile by letting the Jew know that a Jew who doesn’t keep the law exactly is no better than a Gentile and a Gentile who does keep every detail of the law is the same in God’s sight as a Jew.
Jer 9:25-26 “A time is coming,” says the LORD, “when I will punish all those who are circumcised in body but not in spirit— the Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, the people who live in the desert in remote places, and yes, even the people of Judah. And like all these pagan nations, the people of Israel also have uncircumcised hearts.” Many nations surrounding Israel practiced circumcision, but the physical act for them was not a sign of God’s covenant as it was intended to be in Israel. If Israel and Judah, however, stopped serving God in their heart then their circumcision would be no better than the neighboring people groups. Deut 10:16 So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.
Jer 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD
And remove the foreskins of your heart,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Or else My wrath will go forth like fire
And burn with none to quench it,
Because of the evil of your deeds."
Those who are stubborn and disobedient in their hearts may as well be uncircumcised. So Judaism and circumcision are not physical or lineage distinctions. They are determined by the attitude of the heart. The word Judah and Jew come from the Hebrew meaning praise. To be a Jew is to bring praise to God.

So what is our take home? Nick gave a great example. There are two guys who claim to be UFC fans. One walks around wearing a UFC shirt and says he comes from a long line of UFC fans. The other doesn't have a shirt or parents that follow MMA, but he watches all of the fights he can on t.v., practices Jujitsu, and goes to all of the matches in the area. Who is the real UFC fan? When someone looks at my life do they just see a title or a lineage or can they see evidence of my relationship with God in what I do and how I act?

What are you storing up?

Romans 2:2-4 And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things. 3 Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things? 4 Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?

It can be so easy to sit back and point our finger at others, knowing that they are going to be judged for sinful actions. When is the last time you have taken a close look at your own life? We get so accustomed to God’s mercy because He doesn’t smack us every time we deserve it. We begin to think that we are above reproach. Look around the church. Every one of us has things that we do on a regular basis that are wrong. We may call them bad habits or just plain ignore them, but we all seem to think that we have arrived at some sort of status quo. I don’t do the big sins anymore so I’m ok. Do we read the Bible or listen to a sermon actually expecting for it to hurt a little and cause us to grow or do we think “so and so needs to hear this”? God withholds judgment because He loves us. He gives us warning after warning in hopes that we will make the right decision. If we don’t, however, we will receive the judgment we deserve. Solomon’s Book of Wisdom 11:23 says, “But Thou art merciful to all, for Thou canst do all things and Thou dost overlook men’s sins, that they may repent.”
Romans 11:22 says, “Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off.”

Vs 5 But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

CF: Romans 6:1-2 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?

Vs 6-8 He will judge everyone according to what they have done. 7 He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. 8 But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.

CF: Job 34:11 He repays people according to their deeds.
He treats people as they deserve.

Psalm 62:12 unfailing love, O Lord, is yours.
Surely you repay all people
according to what they have done.

Jeremiah 17:10 But I, the LORD, search all hearts
and examine secret motives.
I give all people their due rewards,
according to what their actions deserve.”
32:19 You have all wisdom and do great and mighty miracles. You see the conduct of all people, and you give them what they deserve.

Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.

II Cor 5: 10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

Revelation 2:23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.
20:12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.
22:12 “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.”

Romans 14:12 Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God.

So is salvation by works or grace?
Salvation is by grace alone, but faith without works is dead. An ongoing pursuit of God and what is right displays a commitment of the heart. Those who have not been saved by grace will be judged for their actions. It is only the blood of Christ covering our sins that keeps us from the same judgment.

Vs 8-11 There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.[a] 10 But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.

When you read these verses in context it is obvious that Paul is emphasizing God’s impartiality between Jew and Gentile. Cf. Acts 10:34-35 Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. 35 In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.

Judgy Judgerton!

As we will begin to see in Romans chapter 2, Paul’s style of writing is called diatribe. He answers questions and objections from an imagined critic. As Paul dictates his letter to Tertius, we can easily imagine him pacing back and forth, passionately relaying his case for the righteousness of God and interrupting himself to argue against imagined objections. It’s like his thoughts are racing faster than his words and certainly faster than Tertius’ pen. There are leaps in thought and even fragmented sentences and breaks in Greek construction as he gets passionate about his topic.
Verse 1. You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things.
Paul begins his diatribe with the moralist and the Jew. We mentioned Seneca as one of the most respected and noted moralists of the day. It is easy to imagine him saying, “But Paul, I agree with you wholeheartedly. How can you condemn me?” As we will see, Paul has an answer for these. Anyone who sets himself up in judgment without first inspecting his own shortcomings is passing judgment on himself. Sounds like the whole ‘if you point at someone you have 3 fingers pointing back at you’ thing.
In high school there I had a teacher who was the epitome of left over hippie. He and I had VERY different worldviews. I remember sitting with him after class and discussing my faith and how that affects my worldview and who I am. He was very respectful and we were having a great conversation when suddenly another female student over heard some of what I was saying and butted into the conversation to tell me how close minded I was and that I shouldn’t push my views on others. She was doing the very thing that she was accusing me of and didn’t realize that my thoughts were invited by my teacher while hers weren’t. In her judgment she was passing judgment on herself.
Let’s discuss judgment….As Christians, do we have the right to judge or don’t we?
Matthew 7:2-4
For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. 3 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye?
Luke 6:37 Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.
These passages are both from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is giving a lot of practical Christian living advice. It is full of the concept that you reap what you sow, what goes around comes around, and treat others the way you want to be treated. The idea here isn’t don’t judge between right and wrong, but don’t be judgmental. In this list of practical ways to live without being judgmental we could find: don’t make false accusations, be gentle in correction, have mercy and be forgiving, take into consideration a person's heart and motives more than their actions, assume the best of others, etc. I imagine that Christ would have in mind the people you see standing on street corners with signs that say ‘turn or burn’. They are right that a person with an unrepentant heart, living in sin will go to hell, but how is a ‘judgmental’ sign like that going to change anything? After all, Jesus himself hung out with tax collectors and prostitutes. He didn’t condone their sin, but he loved them and gently showed them the truth. The concept is if you harshly judge others you can expect that you will be treated the same way. My mom worked with a lady that was homosexual. The only thing the lady knew about my mom was that she was a Christian and the lady treated my mom so rude and harshly all of the time. My mom couldn’t figure out why because they had hardly interacted and my mom had been nothing but nice to her. At one point my mom was able to ask her why she seemed to dislike my mom so much and if she had done something to offend this woman. The lady verified that mom was a Christian and then said, “well you hate me because I’m a lesbian.” My mom was shocked and told her not at all. She didn’t agree with the lifestyle and according to the Bible believed that it was wrong, but she liked the woman and would still be her friend. This opened a huge door of opportunity for my mom to have a great friendship with her and witness to her on an ongoing basis. The woman who could hardly stand to be around men because of prior abuse even became friends with my dad. This woman had been ‘judged’ by Christians and so my mom was being judged by her.

James 4:11-12 Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. 12 God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?
This passage is talking about judging how someone else is carrying out the law. This was common for Pharisees. They created so many rules to support the laws that they made the laws a burden. For example you could only walk so far and carry so much on the Sabbath because you were supposed to rest on that day. They made a day of rest into a burden because everyone was afraid of breaking one of the rules. It is our job to obey the law not judge if someone else is upholding it the way we think that they should. In this case if you judge someone else you are really judging the law and how it applies to you and others and that is God’s job not ours.

Romans 14:10 So why do you condemn another Christian? Why do you look down on another Christian? Remember, each of us will stand personally before the judgment seat of God.
We still do this today. We look at other’s walk with God and we decide if they are doing it right or not. This is not talking about sin. This is being petty and legalistic. One may choose not to listen to non-Christian music and look down on the person who does. A personal conviction is between you and God and we need to leave others personal convictions alone and not decided that we are serving God better than they are.
Matthew 18:15-20 “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. 16 But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. 17 If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.
18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.
19 “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”
People today say don’t judge me and they mean, don’t tell me that what I’m doing is wrong. This passage makes it clear that we are supposed to ‘judge’ or determine if someone is living in sin and approach them about it to help them get back on track. We are not supposed to publicly ridicule them or talk behind their back about it. We are supposed to lovingly and also firmly deal with the issue. The goal is restoration not mortification.
I Corinthians 5:1-5 I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. 2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.
3 Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man 4 in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church. I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus. 5 Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns.

I Corinthians 5:12-13 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.
We discussed these passages a few weeks ago, but the same idea is here. We cannot judge those outside the church, but sin in the body of Christ is not to be ignored. It is to be dealt with and if the person refuses to repent we must be decisive in our actions, but if the person repents we are to forgive and help restore them (as the Corinthians were instructed to do with this man in II Cor 2) Non-Christians can't be judged for their actions because they don't adhere to the same set of standards. It would be like getting upset at a pig for being dirty. They don't know any better.

I John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.
This is an important one. We are instructed to judge in the sense of using discernment. We have to make sure that the ones we are listening to for spiritual instruction are speaking truth from God. We have the Holy Spirit in us to help us determine truth from lies. There are so many false prophets out there that use scripture and twist it or take it out of context to make it say what they want it to say. This is so dangerous and the sad thing is that tons of people listen to them. They hear some scripture and assume that it is being used correctly. We have to study and be familiar with God’s Word so that we will know if it’s being used incorrectly and listen to the warning of the Holy Spirit inside of us. If we stand back and say, ‘it’s not my place to judge’ we are opening ourselves up to being led astray. If we see others being led astray by false prophets we need to speak up and lovingly show them the truth through proper use of scripture.

In summation here are 5 guidelines to Christian judgment:
1.Every time the Bible commands us to judge it’s inferring on each other not on non-believers.
2.Check your attitude and motivation. A good question to ask yourself is how eager are you to confront?
3.Use Biblical commands not social expectations IE: personal convictions.
4.Judge the act not the person and be willing to forgive.
5.Examine yourself first and more stringently.

Humanity Diagnosed (Romans 1:18-32)

In vs. 15-17, as discussed in the previous blog, Paul used Habakkuk 2:4 as the premise for his letter. Before Paul goes on about God’s righteousness in the Gospel, however, he first explains the situation humanity is in. If we don’t know how bad off we are then we don’t see the need for the grace that is offered us. The rough overview is: We are in the wrong. We have broken God’s moral law. We now face the consequences of our choices and desperately need to be pardoned. We are unable to change the situation or save ourselves.
Paul begins by pointing to a group of people that all moralists of the day could agree were immoral; pagans. The term pagans is not used generally in this context to mean any non-Christian. Rather it is a form of religion that involves Animism and Polytheism. God was displaying Himself to humanity through all that He made and people were taking that glory and giving credit and praise to the created object instead of the creator. This is the definition of Animism and it is idolatry. It is clear from Greek literature and other contemporary writings of that time that paganism was out of control and disgusting. Seneca, one of the purest moralists of Rome, who died A.D. 65, says of his own time,

"All is full of criminality and vice; indeed much more of these is committed than can be remedied by force. A monstrous contest of abandoned wickedness is carried on. The lust of sin increases daily; and shame is daily more and more extinguished. Discarding respect for all that is good and sacred, lust rushes on wherever it will. Vice no longer hides itself. It stalks forth before all eyes. So public has abandoned wickedness become, and so openly does it flame up in the minds of all, that innocence is no longer seldom, but has wholly ceased to exist," (Seneca de Ira, ii. 8.)

Greek mythology and the great pantheon of gods that were worshiped show how immoral and misguided people’s religious thoughts were. Wisdom 14:12 (book written by King Solomon, but not in the Cannon of the Bible) ‘For the idea of making idols was the beginning of fornication, and the invention of them was the corruption of life.'

In vs 19-20 Paul’s talk about the visible creation being a source of knowledge about the invisible creator can be compared to his speeches at Lystra (Acts 14:15-17) and Athens (Acts 17:22-31). As we will see in this passage ignorance is not bliss. Men had the truth right in front of them but they chose to embrace the lie instead.

18. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
Why does the modern church have a hard time acknowledging God’s wrath/anger? In human terms anger or wrath gets carried out in a sinful manner. It most often springs out of pride or selfishness. With God, however, it is a response of His holiness to wicked rebellion. We are made in God’s image so every emotion we have comes from a pure form found in God. What kind of anger is ok in us? Righteous anger provokes us to make changes. It causes us to work for justice and to right wrongs. Ephesians 4:26 says, “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.
Although wrath is an aspect of God’s personality it is one that He is slow to act on. In the Old Testament it feels like God is more wrathful than in the New Testament. Has God changed? Isaiah calls God acting on his wrath as His ‘strange deed’ (Is 28:21). The Old Testament is a huge span of time while the New Testament is a focused time slot. God warns His people over and over and over to change their ways. It's not until they continue to rebel despite the warnings that God pours out His wrath. Even when He does, however, it is short lived and as soon as there is repentance God begins to restore His people. God’s wrath sets the stage for His work of mercy which we see Him pouring out more often on those who don’t deserve it.
The truth that is being suppressed by their wickedness is the truth about God as we will see in vs 25.

19. since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
(CF: Romans 2:14-15) There are two verbs in this phrase: literally ‘being understood and perceived’. One refers to physical sight and the other to intelligence. Basically, we have physically seen with our eyes and have been able to understand with our minds enough from nature to tell us that there is a Creator and that the glory is not in the created thing itself.
Psalm 19:1-4 says, The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.

21. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
Folly doesn’t mean just that they were intellectually challenged. It means that they were moral idiots. There are some very “intelligent” people out there that are looking at the clear evidence of the existence of God and because they cannot stand to assent to a higher power are twisting the evidence to fit their pre-conceived notions. Nick went to listen to Richard Dawkins speak at IU last year. The guy had so much animosity against God fearers that he was making himself sound like an idiot as he ranted and raved and didn’t cover any facts or statistics. He was just name calling.

23. and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
There are many cultures both then and now that worship idols, but even the Israelites chose to trade in what they knew about our glorious God for a golden calf. Psalm 106:20 They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. There is a distinct reversal of the verses in Gen 1:20-26 where God creates the creatures from every classification and makes man in His image to rule over them. Here we are created in the very image of God and put in dominion over the earth to care for it and we instead begin to worship these creatures and even make idols in our own image.

24. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
(CF. vs 28) This language is used in several places in the Bible like in Psalm 81:12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. What does this mean? Is God causing them to sin? C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain (1940), pp. 115 says, the lost ‘enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded, and are therefore self-enslaved.’ God will call us and pursue us, but when we continue to reject Him and demand our own way He will eventually allow us to dive head long into our sin. We begin to experience all of the consequences of that sin. We can see this happening to the Israelites over and over in the OT. What happened as a result? When they were no longer under the protection of the Lord and they hit bottom they began to turn their hearts back to God. While the choice to repent is still theirs, sometimes a person has to hit bottom in order to see their need for God. Another example of this is I Corinthians 5:5 where it says, 'hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord'. Paul is instructing the church to stop harboring a man who is blatantly sinning and is unrepentant. The hope is that if he is left to the full consequences of his sinful acts, the suffering will cause him to turn back to Christ. In this particular case it is also the act of excommunication that causes that man to recognize his sin and need for repentance.

25. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Some versions say, ‘they traded the truth’. This is not language that implies they were mistaken or tricked or accidentally believed a lie. They knew what they were trading in and they chose the lie over the truth. Why would they do that? II Thessalonians 2:10-12 says,

and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

They choose to ignore truth so God gives them the thing that they are seeking after and they begin to believe the lie and fall deeper and deeper into their own delusion. A good example (a la Jerry Springer) might be a husband or wife who so badly doesn’t want to admit that their own actions caused the end of their marriage that they start making up lies about the other person and eventually start truly believing their own lies. They cannot see that they are to blame.

26. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other.
Makes me think of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Henry VIII did not disagree with the Catholic church’s teaching, he just wanted the right to divorce his wife Catherine and marry Anne. He began a new church just so he could marry Anne. Sexual desire isn’t the only reason that people choose to ignore the truth of God’s Word and believe a lie, but it is a very common reason. They do not want to be held accountable for their actions. They want to believe that they don’t answer to anyone, but themselves. In Greek literature even the pantheon of god’s themselves were promiscuous. If those are the gods you serve, why would you have to behave any differently? Pastor Ray Pritchard of Keep Believing Ministries in Elmhurst, IL. has an interesting comment:

"Why is illicit sex singled out as the first major step away from God? The answer is not hard to find. Sex is closely related to the human spirit. The way you conduct yourself sexually is a good barometer of what's going on in your heart. After all, what is sex but the desire to be worshiped by another person? Sound strange? It shouldn't. When two people come together, they are seeking much more than physical release. At a very deep level, they are looking for love, acceptance, fulfillment, freedom and meaning in life. By giving themselves to someone else, they hope (and secretly pray) that through this self-giving, they will discover a way to fill the void within. They "worship" through sex hoping someone will "worship" them back. Sex and worship are thus closely related in their ultimate purpose. It is as if God is pulling back the covers in order to show us how empty our hearts are without him. By turning to illicit sex, instead of fulfilling our dreams we only expose the emptiness within. It never works out like we hope it will. Immorality never satisfies because it always involves deception. We lie to each other, we lie to ourselves, and ultimately we lie to God."

27. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
This speaks of the self-destructive nature of sin. While people look for fulfillment they receive emptiness, hopelessness, and disease. We are not saying that this sin is worse than all other sin or that it alone has physical consequences. All sin has consequences. The point is that the penalty is not just a spiritual one received after death. There are consequences for our actions now. Most of the time we have to live with those consequences for the rest of our lives even if we repent and come back to God.

28. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.
While verses 26-27 point out a very externally obvious indicator that the pagans had rejected the truth of God displayed in creation and instead had believed a lie, verses 28-30 give a long list of other less immediately obvious, but just as damning evidence. Another good interpretation of the word ‘foolish’ thinking is ‘counterfeit’ thinking. It is not foolish in the sense of silly. It is a fake trying to impersonate the real thing. It is fraudulent. Verse 31 follows up with they refuse to understand. My mom used to say of her dad, “Don’t confuse him with the facts. His mind is made up.”
How interesting that disobeying their parents rounds out the list of evil behavior. In today’s society it sounds almost as silly as saying, ‘and they don’t wash their hands after using the bathroom’; distasteful, but not as serious as murder or hate. Why does this make the list? If we can't obey our parents then we certainly can't obey God and vice versa. It indicates rebellion against God given authority. The culture of this time was honor based. There was so much more than just concern for personal consequence. People weighed their actions by how it would affect their family's standing in society. To dishonor your family was a huge deal and so it follows that disobeying your parents was a huge deal.

32. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
Talk about hedonism! They know the consequences, but are so self-absorbed and devoted to self-gratification that they don’t care. It is not sin of ignorance. It is sin of blatant rebellion. It’s not uncommon to hear people say things like ‘live fast, die young’ in today’s society. Consequences mean nothing. Not only are they going to be held accountable for their own actions, they will be held accountable for leading others astray.
John Piper refers to this section as

‘Committing Spiritual Suicide and Taking Others Along... In other words, the end-point of depravity is not just the suicidal love affair with sin, but the desire to bring others with you to destruction. It's not just that people choose death for themselves in the passion of sin, but that they become Dr. Kevorkians (a medical doctor who advocated "euthanasia") at the spiritual level, and assist others in eternal self-destruction by approving their sin."! (Romans 1:28-32 Doing and Endorsing Evil)

Pastor Ray Stedman writes that...

Knowing that harm is coming from their wickedness, nevertheless they attempt to spread it more fully. They invade the field of education; they dominate the media; they seek legal status for their wickedness and defy all attempts at control. As you can well recognize, this is what is going on today. (Romans 1:24-32 The Deepening Darkness)
If I can make everyone around me join into my depravity and make society give it legal status then I won't feel guilty for what I am doing.

Isaiah 57 (The Message) fits very well with this description of society.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2057&version=MSG