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About-Him.Com Devotional 10-20-2012
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All Have Sinned!

Romans 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;  

In our last 2  devotionals (part 1, part 2) , we mentioned that the gospel story of the sacrifice of Jesus at Calvary and His subsequent resurrection stands in opposition to all of the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of this world. It is the power of God unto salvation. When we believe and act on God’s word, we become new creatures in Him (Jn. 5:24; 2 Co. 5:17). We find that we begin to walk in God’s righteousness as He directs our paths (Ga. 2:20).  

I find it interesting that the KJV translators marked Romans 1:16-18  as  a distinct  paragraph , which denotes a group of similar thoughts. Verse 18 is conjoined to verses 16 & 17 by the conjunction For, which would mean because of. Thus a contrast is demonstrated  between those who obey the gospel and those who know the truth of God’s holiness, but choose to continue on in a life of sin.  

Paul has a lot to say about sin in the upcoming chapters of Romans.  He comments of the sins of the gentiles. Paraphrasing Romans 1: 18:23: They once had an inward  awareness that God existed. Looking at the wonders of creation, they  would have had to conclude that Someone bigger than themselves brought all of this to come about.  Oh, that men should be so smart today.  

They knew God but would not glorify Him as God. They became vain in their imaginations and as a result their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. (Isn’t that the way of the world today)? They changed the glory of an incorruptible God to that of corruptible man and then to birds, to four footed beasts and then to creeping things. Note the progression from birds down to creeping things. They worshipped the creature more than the Creator. That’s the way of sin. It always has a downward progression that leads to death and hell.  

As a result of the gentiles unbelief and willful disobedience, God gave them up and gave them free rein to practice all manner of vile lust and indulge in every sin imaginable. These sins are itemized in Romans 1:25-31.  

Paul didn’t cut the Jews any slack either. They knew the law of God but didn’t obey it. They were guilty of many of the same sins as the gentiles. They relied on the circumcision of their flesh while ignoring the circumcision of their spirit.    

After laying out his orderly thesis, Paul states his conclusion: All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All are in need of the Savior. All are subject to the wrath of God.    

Romans 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (Ps. 14:1-3; Isa. 53:1-30).  

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:  

Romans 3:11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13  Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14  Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: (Ps. 5:9)
15  Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16  Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17  And the way of peace have they not known:
18  There is no fear of God before their eyes.
 

We don’t like to talk about sin, much less the wrath of God. However, the bible is not silent on these subjects.  

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  

It has been noted that when  Paul itemizes the various sins in his epistles, they seem to fall into two groups that could be called the sins of the flesh and the sins of the spirit. Either group will send us to hell, but the shed blood of Jesus cleanses us from both.  

The apostle John said that if we say that we have no sin, we deceive our self  and that the truth is not in us (1 Jo. 1:8).  I believe John is stating that perhaps we feel  that since we made some drastic changes when we came to Christ, we don’t have any room for improvement. We have regular church attendance, pay our tithes and  are no longer drinking and carousing. A vast improvement over what we once were. We’re looking pretty good. Galatians 5:20-21 lists a few sins that perhaps we’ve overlooked such as : Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, and envying. And then of course there is sowing discord among the brethren.  

Proverbs 6:16  These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17  A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18  An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19  A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
 

I believe that the closer we get to God the more we become aware of our own sinfulness. The prophet Isaiah was functioning as a prophet in the king Uzziah’s  court when he was caught up to heaven (Is. 6:1-8). When he saw the Lord, he became acutely aware of his sin and cried out. His sin was purged by live coals from the heavenly altar.  God’s fire is still available today (Lu. 3:16).  

Awareness of sin brings conviction and we also cry out for cleansing.  

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  

When God forgives, He also forgets.  Satan, the accuser of the brethren (Re. 12:10), likes to keep us in condemnation. The old hymn A Crimson Stream  by Bis. G.T. Haywood gives us the answer to this:  

When gloom and sadness whisper, you’ve sinned, no need to pray
I look away to Jesus and He tells me to say.
I see a crimson stream of blood that flows from Calvary
It’s waves that reach the throne of God, are sweeping over me.
 

When we receive God’s forgiveness we can confidently join with the apostle Paul in stating “…. I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day (2Ti. 1:12 ).”  

The wrath of God: The believer need not worry about the wrath of God as long as he/she keeps on believing. We are not appointed to wrath but to obtain salvation (1Th 5:9 ).  

Wrath is appointed to those who ignore the gospel and continue in a life of sin. Note the contrast: Tribulation and anguish to the unbeliever and glory, honour, and peace to the believer.  

Romans 2:9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:  

And when we reach the portal where life eternal reigns
The ransomed host grand final will be this glad refrain
I see a crimson stream of blood, it flows from Calvary
It’s waves that reach the throne of God, are sweeping over me
 

How about joining me with a great big, THANK YOU, JESUS?

Somebody Has Said
"If the Lord's bearing our sin for us is not the gospel, I have no gospel to preach." (C.H. Spurgeon)  

Free Ebooks That You Can Download.

An Expository Study on the Book of Colossians  

The I AMs of Jesus   

Thoughts on the Lord's Prayer 


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Don and Marie Spooner
About Him! Ministries


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