The Slippery Slope of Society

At Grace Church in Des Moines, Pastor Phil Winfield is preaching a series on Romans.  His message this morning was “When the Truth Gets Trampled” with the text being Romans 1:18-32.  He outlined, in a way I thought was very helpful in understanding the passage, the inevitable slide of man when we trample the truth through suppressing the truth, (v.18), exchanging the truth for a lie, (v.25) and through rejecting God, (v.28).

1. We have intelligence, “they knew God,” (v.21).  We all have basic knowledge of God, (v.19-20).
2. Then we develop ingratitude, “they didn’t honor him as God or give thanks,” (v.21).
3. Then we become indifferent, We become “futile in (our) thinking, and (our) foolish hearts are darkened,” (v.21).  We “exchanged the truth of God for a lie,” (v.25).
4. We become willfully ignorant, “Claiming to be wise, they became fools,” (v.22).  Our society may be full of knowledge, but we often don’t have wisdom.
5. We then practice idolatry, “exchange the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles,” (v.23).  “…worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,” (v.25).
6. We then become indulgence, “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among ourselves.  ….For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions,” (v.24, 26a).
7. Then accept indecency, “For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the  due penalty for their error,” (v.26-27).
8. Insolence becomes acceptable, “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.  They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless,” (v.28-31).

The good news is that Jesus through His death and resurrection is mighty to save any who come to Him in repentance and belief.