Devotional Guide
For the week of February 27, 2005
SIN THAT SHOWS
How suffering is a symptom
To Read: John 7-9
To Know:
"And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a
base mind and to improper conduct." (Rm. 1:28)
For the third time in five verses Paul says that God gives up on those who
gave up on him. In verse 24 we read, "Therefore God gave them up in the
lusts of their hearts to impurity..." Verse 26 adds, "For this reason
(because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie. vs. 25) God gave them
up to dishonorable passions." Finally, verse 28 reveals the profundity of
our lost condition, "And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God
gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct." These are judicial
acts. The penalty fits the crime. Lust results in impurity. Dishonoring the
truth about God manifested itself in dishonorable passions. When we set our
thoughts against God, God takes away the right use of our minds. The Greek
METANOIA (repentance) is a compound word meaning to think again. Salvation
is rooted in a change of mind. This command is impossible to obey except for
the grace of God. Christ commanded the man with the withered hand to stretch
it forth. The paralytic was told to arise and walk. Lazarus was commanded to
come forth from the tomb. In each case the command could be obeyed only by
the power of God. Our minds cannot obey the command to repent unless the
Lord will give what also he commands.
To Do:
Bad behavior, like bad health, hurts. Praise God for suffering. Pain is our
alarm that something is wrong. Doctors rely on pain for their diagnosis. The
physician's first question is often, "Where does it hurt?" Medical training
enables doctors to trace the symptom to the cause. It hurts to live in a
sinful world. Suffering is the symptom that something is wrong. While it is
true that our personal hurts do not always result from individual sin, it is
always true that suffering is evidence that the world is not right in the
sight of God. Paul's words invite us to give up on ourselves and return to
the Lord. This verse calls us to stop believing in human wisdom and trust in
the foolishness of the gospel which is wiser than the wisdom of men.
02285$-02285
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