Romans 1:22,23 “We Need Thee”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²²Claiming to be wise ones, they were made foolish  ²³and changed the glory of the incorruptible God in [the] likeness of [the] image of corruptible man and birds and animals and reptiles.

As the old KJV translated it, “Professing themselves to be wise…” – therein lies a recipe for certain disaster, does it not?

As I survey back over life, this simple truth amazes me: “God resists the proud; He gives His grace to the humble.” Unfortunately for us, the sin of pride is the very skin we live in. “Professing themselves to be wise:” I would note here this sad fact is particularly the affliction of youth. It would seem almost impossible to be young and not to be arrogant. Young people of every generation are quite sure they have all the answers. As the saying goes, “They just haven’t figured out the questions.” It is shocking and humbling to look back and see how completely arrogant I was in my younger days.

Another thing that amazes me is that people can grow old and still be arrogant. I would observe that, in general, age does tend to humble people. As we all live our lives and make horrible mistakes, as we each build our own personal Hall of Shame and assemble our own seemingly endless catalog of agonizing regrets, I would suggest it is not at all uncommon that people get “nicer” as they get older. That makes perfect sense. It’s too bad most of us can’t figure out humility while we’re young and at least minimize the nightmare of our own folly, but, again, it amazes me that anyone could grow old and still be arrogant. God deliver us all!

If we would understand Paul here in these simple verses, we can understand this problem. Although Paul is (I believe) primarily tracing the devolution of the entire human race, yet what he says is true of every one of us and of every nation, save but for the grace of God. “We have met the enemy and he is us.” It is a sad reality that our fallen hearts are born to be proud, to think ourselves wise, and therein to suffer the destiny to inevitably become fools.

As we learn in these verses and see throughout human history, this problem is so pervasive and so degrading, that nearly everywhere people have been and are reduced to actually bowing down in front of statues. They actually, really imagine them to be their saviors! If it weren’t so sad, it would be ludicrous.

But how can intelligent human beings fall into such indignity? How could we all be so utterly self-destructive? “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools…” Therein lies the problem. Jesus made it very clear, “For without Me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The plain, simple fact is that we need God. When a human being begins to think and live like they don’t need Him, they might as well cut off their legs and try to walk. Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools. The very essence of our beings includes God, includes us being in a constant, intimate and loving, trusting relationship with Him. “With Him, nothing shall be impossible.” “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” “I am strong, when I am on Your shoulders; You raise me up to more than I can be.” To know God and walk with Him raises us human beings. To ignore Him sets us on a certain path to self-destruction.

I thought it was interesting back in v21 to notice one of the words. The passage said, “Knowing God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful.” Note the word “glorified.” It actually doesn’t have to be that strong a word. It could have been translated simply, “saw” or “recognized” or “acknowledged” – something much more mundane and commonplace. What the verse is saying is that, knowing God, they simply ignored Him. They went about their days thinking and acting like they didn’t need Him. Oh, yes. He was there. They did know Him. They just didn’t think they needed Him. They pushed Him to the back of their hearts. They thought they could do it on their own.

Obviously, this is the point where this verse intersects with my life and yours. Yes, they were bad. It is shameful that the human race knew God and pushed Him away. But you and I make those same choices every day. If you and I are born-again people, then it is true without a doubt that we “know” God. But have we entered into that deep, personal relationship of walking with Him, acknowledging Him, realizing we desperately need Him every second? Do we live what we sing, “I need Thee every hour …”

He isn’t a God to be worshipped on Sunday morning or to be kept on our shelf for those moments when we’re in big trouble and need a God to pray to. We need Him. The very essence of our being includes a constant, loving relationship with Him. We are not wise…but He is.

Can I suggest this relationship starts with our attention to the Word? The Word is our wisdom. It is the place we can go to truly know His mind and His heart, to be fed His wisdom. All of this is precisely why Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” God’s Word is our freedom. It frees us from us. It draws us into our relationship with Him. It draws us to the very place He created us to be. Jesus also said, “For this is eternal life, that they might know Thee…”

And, back to our passage, what is the alternative? As the old adage goes, “If you don’t worship God, you’ll find something else to worship.” The problem is that those “something else’s” draw us down, not lift us up. We may not be falling down in front of sticks or burning our children in fires, but to ignore God sets us on that same path.

It is a shame where the human race has gone and where it heads again and again, but, knowing God, you and I face that same choice every day, every second. Lord, open our eyes to see You, to see that You are our life, that life itself is knowing You. Let us truly live the life You made us to live, to be the people You made us to be. And in this world of hopeless darkness, may Your light shine out of us and draw others into Your heart.

We need Thee...every hour.

Romans 1:21 “The Problem”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²¹because, knowing God, they did not glorify [Him] as God, neither were thankful but were made futile in their reasonings, and their undiscerning heart was darkened.

This is another fascinating passage to study and ponder. The grammar in v21 is quite a bit more straight-forward than in v20. Where translators differ is more just in the precise meanings of the words. Even with that said, though, and granted that the different translations may vary some, the basic meaning is pretty clear.

The verse is another total bombshell. The whole word has been sold a bill of goods. It is a “given” of modern existence that we all started as ignorant savages and slowly progressed to become the distinguished and highly educated race we are. We are led to believe the “natives in the jungle” are the remnant of our own ancient existence. However, the entire Bible and this verse in particular, would tell us otherwise. Adam and Eve were not “ignorant savages.” They were probably very attractive, very intelligent people. They didn’t go around grunting and hitting each other with clubs. They didn’t kill and eat each other. In fact, early in the Bible, we find people inventing music and developing the science of metallurgy.

So then where did the “natives” come from? This verse and those that follow answer that question. Man has not evolved. He has devolved. The Bible would have us all know that natives in the jungle are living testimonies to the horrible, degrading consequence of godlessness. Read again the passage, “Knowing God…” What this verse would have us understand is that people didn’t “develop” religion – they started with it! The human race started with a clear knowledge of the true God.

But, as the verse says, “Knowing God, they did not glorify Him as God, neither were thankful…” As we learned in v.20, the very creation itself is shouting to the world that God exists and that He is very powerful. In addition, Acts 14:17 tells us, “Yet He has not left Himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” Acts 17:25 adds, “…He gives to all life, breath, and all things.” However, knowing that God exists, that He is powerful, and that He is very kind, the human race chose to push Him away and pursue their own lusts and desires.

Where did it get them? When left to run its ugly course, it turns human beings into ignorant savages who kill and eat each other. As we learn in Proverbs, “Where there is no vision (of God), the people perish.” Again, this is a total bombshell, but the plain truth is that only the Bible stops the awful devolution of man. As Francis Schaeffer maintained in “How Shall We Then Live,” our Western Culture has only prospered as it has because the Bible was there to arrest our devolution and to give us dignity. Of all nations on earth, America was built on the truth of the Bible and the worship of God and we have arguably risen higher than any nation in history, perhaps besides Israel. Our forefathers not only acknowledged God but so recognized Him they set aside a day every year called “Thanksgiving.” In the last 50 years America has systematically set about to shut out the Lord and where has it gotten us? Children shooting each other at school and adults carrying on in unbelievable division and hatefulness. The passage before us would tell us all that we are following a very predictable pattern and that our only hope would be a revival and the return of worship of God.

It is interesting to me to note that the last words of this verse are singular. It says, “…and their foolish heart was darkened.” Note that “heart” is singular, in what has otherwise been a plural discussion. I would suggest this tells us Paul is speaking of the human race as a group. I would suggest that is specifically what he has in mind. However, I think we would err greatly if we failed to apply this truth to each of us individually.

What do I mean? First of all, there is great danger of reading this passage and seeing only “those bad people out there.” Nathan would tell us, “You’re the man.” If I would be honest, I easily tend to go about my life, doing what I want, giving little thought to God, and certainly we can all admit we are far too often unthankful for His blessings. We take Him and His kindness for granted. And then realize, as Christians, we do so under the glaring light of the Gospel, under the clear knowledge of Jesus and salvation by grace. The simple fact is we’re no better than “them.”

And we can see this devolution in each individual life. When people push God out of their life, out of their family, where does it get them? Relationships deteriorate and all sorts of bad things start to happen – alcoholism, drug addiction, homelessness, illegitimate pregnancies, abortions, and people literally killing each other.

We need God. We need the Bible. Only the Word of God ministered to us by the Spirit of God can restore our foolish, darkened hearts and lift us up to the dignity and freedom God created us to know. As believers, a verse like this should call us again to remember “the pit from which we were dug” and cause us to humbly beg God’s mercy, to determine again to be in our Bibles and to consciously be thankful to Him for His blessings. It should also remind us what’s really “wrong” with the people around us. They need God. Whatever else may be “wrong” with them, whatever else they may need, what they need most is to come into a saving knowledge of the God who does exist, is very powerful, and who is a very kind, if they only had eyes to see it.

Once again, Paul is telling us in Romans 1 what is “the problem,” but he’s doing so because there is a Solution, the Gospel of Christ. The Bible would tell us there is an answer for “the problem” with us ourselves and also for the people around us. Our God is a God of hope!

Romans 1:19,20 “Creation vs. Evolution, or...”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁹because that which is knowable of God is apparent in them, for God made [it] apparent to them, ²⁰for the invisible things of Him from [the] creation of [the] world are clearly seen, being understood by the things made, even [the] eternal power of Him and Godhead, so that they are inexcusable.

I’ve really enjoyed studying these two verses. There is actually a lot going on in the Greek grammar to where there are significant decisions a translator has to make. Commentators who look at the Greek of course offer various opinions in each case and, if one compares different translations, you’ll find they do differ, based on those grammatical decisions. This is precisely why I had to learn Greek for myself and why I spend the time diagramming the Greek sentences. I can’t stand people arguing such points and me being left to hope I pick the person who got it right. Knowing the grammar, at least I can look at the different issues, read the various arguments, ponder the grammar myself, and then make decisions for myself what I honestly think is correct. My translation above reflects my decisions. As usual, it reads a little “wooden,” but that is because I’m trying to offer a translation which is as literal as possible.

(For whatever it’s worth, I am not suggesting that my translation above is “better” than anyone else’s. Translation from one language to another is very difficult business. Languages don’t translate word for word from one to another. What that means is that a translator has to constantly fight the battle between trying to stay as close as he can to accurately reflecting the exact words said while, on the other hand, clearly communicating what the writer or speaker meant. My “literal” translations are intended to reflect the exact words but one will notice they are almost always “wooden,” by which I mean they don’t read very smoothly in English. On the other end of the spectrum would be Bibles like the NIV, where their goal very specifically was to produce a translation that was readable and easy to understand. With that as the goal, I applaud them for a job very well done. I will maintain vigorously that every generation in every land speaking every language ought to be able to read a Bible they can understand. I offer my literal translations only because I’m trying to keep track myself of exactly what the Bible says – in the original – and then I can hold my own opinions of what the writer meant.)

So … to the Word.

This passage is a total bombshell. We believe as Christians that Jesus meant exactly what He said, when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.” We will insist it true that “There is no other name under Heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.” We believe “all have sinned” and all must be saved.

Then someone asks, “But what about the natives in the jungle? They’ve never heard the Gospel!” This passage answers that question quite bluntly: they are “without excuse.”

Can I say first of all this makes me really sad? What I mean is that supposedly Christian people have been pondering this very question for at least as long as I’ve been alive – yet the question is here answered clearly in Romans 1:19,20. How can Christians be still asking a question the Bible clearly answers? And this is what makes me sad – because they don’t know their Bibles. Even the men who ought to be studying act as if they’ve never read these verses. This, I fear, is one of the most Bible-ignorant generations of supposed Christians that probably ever existed, and unfortunately it isn’t just the people in the pews. It starts with the very highest leaders. Oh, well. I can’t change the world, but I can change me – so I’ll study on. God help me.

The idea that people – even natives in the jungle – are inexcusably condemned before God – is bombshell enough. Put that on Facebook and you’ll be literally crucified – but what is really a bombshell today is why they’re inexcusable. Look at the passage – it is because the invisible things of God, even His eternal power and Godhead, are clearly seen…and where? In Creation. In the things made.

If there is one doctrine this world deeply hates, it is Creation. The whole world and I fear the vast majority of professing Christians are quite convinced this world came about by evolution. We’re sorry but this is another very clearly answered question. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” In seven days, He created the entire universe.

Remember the last verse – “they suppress the truth in unrighteousness”? What the passage before us tells us is that the very creation itself is shouting to the world that God is real and that He is very powerful. If we don’t want to believe what is so patently obvious, what do we have to do? We have to contrive some kind of lie we’ll tell ourselves and each other—and that is exactly what this world has done. “Evolution” is the big lie a wicked generation contrived to push God out of their hearts and today they’ve told the lie to themselves and each other so many times and in so many ways, they’ve lost the ability to even question whether it was ever true to start with.

And basically if you challenge it – you’ll be the one getting crucified.

Can I say the whole thing utterly offends me as a scientist? I am an engineer. I know what science is…and I know what it isn’t. Real science gathers evidence first, then decides what that evidence seems to prove. Evolution decides first that it is true, then sets about to produce evidence to support it. That is NOT science. I believe by faith that God created the universe. That is not science. It is faith. Evolutionists believe by faith in evolution. They just won’t admit it, and that offends me as a scientist.

So what do we do about it? We should go to the Bible first of all and let it tell us how we should respond to a world lying to themselves and to each other. And what does it say? “Love God and love people.” Yes, that’s right. It seems the natural reaction of our Bible-ignorant generation is to jump on a pedestal and start shouting angrily that evolution is untrue and people should believe in Creation. The problem is that, in God’s world, the minute you forget to love, you’ve already failed. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not love … I am nothing.” We have to realize that as much as it offends us that people believe such a ludicrous lie, as unscientific as it is, their problem is not that they’re misinformed. They have a spiritual problem. Their father is the devil, the father of lies. That is what Paul is telling us here in Romans.

It’s not that we can’t ever discuss the issue with them. There may actually be a time when it is appropriate, when it is actually something we’re sure the Lord would want us to discuss with someone, but, once again, we must check our hearts and make sure we speak out of love. Paul told Timothy, “The servant of the Lord must not quarrel; instead, he should be kind to everyone … in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (II Tim 2:24-26).

But even beyond the possible direct discussions of the subject, you and I simply need to do what the Lord told us, and that is to “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love …” (Eph 5:1,2). We need to be living the love of Christ all day every day in our families, our workplaces, our communities, and, yes, even in our churches. As for the passage before us in Romans, Paul is telling us what the world’s problem is – that they are lying to themselves – but that is easy for us to see because we’ve already let the Lord save us and open our eyes. As Paul goes on through Romans, he doesn’t plan to tell us how to confront the problem of evolution. He’s going to explain the Gospel. He’s telling us the problem, so he can explain the solution, God’s solution, which is faith in Christ. That’s what they need, and the Bible would tell us it will be love, your love, that will break down the barrier of Satan’s lies to open their hearts to Christ.

As the heavens declare the glory of God, may you and I join the angels in singing His praises, but may we never stop loving the people deafened and blinded by Satan’s lies. It’s not really about creation vs. evolution. It’s about Jesus.

Romans 1:18 “And So It Begins”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁸for [the] wrath of God is being revealed from Heaven upon all [the] irreverence and unrighteousness of men, ones suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.

And so it begins.

In verses 16 & 17 Paul referred to the hope of the Gospel which tells us of a way of salvation, a way of deliverance from whatever it is that’s wrong with us and the whole human race. He said that this deliverance is a “righteousness of God” which is revealed in that Gospel and something gained by faith. These words are the Gospel in a nutshell – but since it is the most important nutshell in all the universe, it calls for a LOT of explanation. Such is the book of Romans, and so that explanation begins.

First, we need to understand the problem. It is (obviously) serious and will take the better part of three chapters just to explain. And what is it? What is this problem we have that keeps one generation after another self-destructing? What is it that keeps you and me self-destructing? The Gospel would offer us a solution to this problem, but, once again, we first need to understand the problem.

“The wrath of God is being revealed from Heaven…” We’re in trouble. BIG trouble. God is angry. People wrestle endlessly with this idea – that God is angry, the idea of His “wrath,” but I suggest they do so needlessly. Of course He’s angry. How could He not be? Does anyone honestly not want Him to be angry? What would any of us make of a God who wasn’t? This world is filled with meanness and hatred, lying and cheating, abuse and cruelty in every possible form. Yes, people can (and do) do much good – and for that we can (and should) be thankful – but we’d have to be hopelessly delusive to deny the vast extent of evil in our world.

I learned long ago, as you drive down the street, you don’t want to know what is going on behind those closed doors. People’s cruelty to each other is almost unfathomable. Of course that is true in third world countries and amongst lower classes of people, but it doesn’t stop there. It’s going on in suburban homes and mansions and palaces too. What would you think of a God who wasn’t angry? What would you think of a king who knew of the evil going on throughout his kingdom and it didn’t bother him? What would you think of a parent who knew one of his children was cruelly mistreating the others but it didn’t bother him?

Yes, God is angry and He should be. Notice that His anger is being revealed “from Heaven.” In v17, the “righteousness of God,” the solution to our problem, was revealed “in the Gospel.” Now our problem is being revealed “from Heaven.” It isn’t just revealed in the Scriptures. God’s anger against our sinfulness is being broadcast straight from Heaven itself. All anyone has to do is stop being delusive and the signs of God’s anger are being broadcast everywhere we look – from the very fact that the entire Creation is crumbling before our eyes to all the miseries of disease and of a world bent on killing us.

And why specifically is He angry? It is because of “all the irreverence and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” “Irreverence and unrighteousness.” You could probably just translate this, “All the wickedness,” but the two words, in and of themselves, do express the two faces of our problem. Old commentators would have said it is the “two tablets of the Law,” where they used to see the two tables of the Ten Commandments as the first tablet having to do with our relationship with God and the second tablet our relationship with people.

The first word they would say represents the first tablet of the Law and particularly our problem with God. I’ve translated it “irreverence.”  He said, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me,” and yet, as Calvin said, “The human heart is a factory of idols.” Mankind will worship anything but God. Oh, they might get “religious” and invent some kind of god to worship, but if it isn’t the true and the living God, it only degrades them. Secular society spurns “religion” and then worships anything and everything they think gets them what they want.

This problem with God feeds the other problem, our issue with the Second Table of the Law. I’ve translated it “unrighteousness.” It could be translated “injustice” or “wickedness,” but it specifically refers to this problem of how we treat others, how we act in this world. In order to “get what they want” humans will resort to any and every sin in the book. They will even feign righteousness and religion to get what they want, or, if necessary they’ll lie and cheat and murder each other.

The rest of chapter one will rehearse the awful expressions of our irreverence and unrighteousness, but notice here in this verse where it all begins, the Lord describes us as people who “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Here is where the “irreverence and unrighteousness” from earlier do morph into a single word. As I said above they are kind of the two sides of the same problem. It is irreverence to break any of the Ten Commandments, just as it is unrighteousness. It’s all wickedness, or simply “unrighteousness.” And what do unrighteous people do? They “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

Of course they do. They are of their father the devil. He is a liar and the father of lies. He can only exist in his rebellion against God by living a lie and telling lies. He can only advance his kingdom by deceiving people. Jesus said, “I am the Truth.” Everything Jesus does, everything God is, everything He says is true because He is truth. The Bible is true because it is God’s Word, the Word of Christ, the Sword of the Spirit, and it cannot possibly be anything but truth.

In order to live in unrighteousness, people must, like Satan, live a lie, tell themselves lies, tell each other lies, believe their own lies. This is precisely why today we have the “fake news media.” In order to advance their causes, they must lie. Their causes are lies. They push God aside so they can live in their immorality and pride, then they have to lie to themselves and each other to make it okay, then they have to lie to everyone else – even if they are a journalist for a major national publication or the announcer for some syndicated talk show or “news” station, or a “famous” movie star or singer. And this is precisely why so many people believe their lies. Apart from Christ, all people are given to suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.  If you push God out of your mind, you are living a lie and lose the ability to even discern when someone is lying to you, when you’re lying to yourself.

If I may inject, this is precisely why it is so important to study the Bible, to read it often, to sit under the teaching of a godly pastor – so you are fed a steady stream of truth. Jesus said, “When you know the truth, the truth will make you free.” That is one of the reasons I have studied the Bible for myself these last 40 years. I want to be free. I want to know the truth. I know my head is full of untruth. I know my natural man loves to feed on lies and untruth. A person can only be certain to be freed from this world’s lies by first of all knowing Christ, then giving serious attention to the Word – the only source of absolute truth.

That’s why I “ponder” it. Do I really understand this? Is this really how I think? Is my life consistent with this? And for me, when the Lord does open my eyes, it’s not as if I make this valiant effort at change. To a huge extent, to “see” the truth is already to be changed. This is because, once again, at the root of our problem is this fact that we have suppressed the truth in our unrighteousness. We actually see our world through untruth and act accordingly. When we see the world through God’s eyes, through truth, we will more likely act according to that, and live rightly.

Can I also say this goes way beyond even Bible truth? This world’s affection for lies offends me spiritually but it also offends me as an engineer, as a scientist. We are fed an almost total diet of scientific lies as well. One week coffee causes cancer, the next week it cures it. We’re fed “poll” data that was deliberately manipulated. We’re suddenly told that the polio vaccine didn’t help at all, but actually made things worse (to which I say, “Excuse me – I was alive back then and I know you’re lying”), and the poor young parents are told not to have their children vaccinated. I won’t even get into the obvious charade of “global warming.” Ever wonder why they keep getting caught fudging the data? Why does anyone fudge data? Because the evidence doesn’t support their desired conclusion, so they need to lie – as usual.

Yes, God is angry. And He should be. This world of lies and meanness needs to end.

It will one day and the good news is that today this problem in your heart and mine can be ending. The answer is this Gospel Paul is talking about. “Gospel” of course means literally “good news.” There is good news! But before we are really ready to embrace this good news, we need to understand the bad news. That’s what this verse is about. This verse expresses in a sentence what Paul will explain for the first three chapters of this book. It is the bad news. If we want to understand the good news, we need the Lord to explain to us the bad news.

And so it begins.