November 23rd~Unhinged

1 Corinthians 16:1-24

Acts 19:21-20:3

Romans 1:1-32

After spending quite a bit of time in Ephesus, Paul’s “open door” of ministry there was closing. The Gospel message had challenged the worship of Artemis in the city, and the idol business was suffering. Local craftsmen banded together and started a riot, engulfing the city in chaos and confusion. Paul recognized that it was time for him to leave; he returned to Macedonia, then spent three months in Corinth (Greece). While in Corinth, he wrote a letter to the church in Rome.

Paul’s opening in the letter to Rome has a close connection to the events that he witnessed in Ephesus. He had seen first-hand the influence that idolatry had on the minds of men. He wrote, “From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and the sky and all that God made. They can clearly see His invisible qualities, His eternal power, and divine nature, so they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give Him thanks. They began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools. Instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like people, birds, animals, and snakes” (Romans 1:20-23).

Paul also witnessed the negative impact that idolatry had on society. He continued, “So then, God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things... Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things God made but not the Creator Himself... That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires... He abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things that should never be done... Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness... They are forever inventing new ways of sinning... They are fully aware of God’s penalty for those who do these things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway” (1:24-32).

Daily Reflection

Just as one’s view of God affects his view of everything else, so does the view that society has of God affect that society positively or negatively. Morality in a society hinges on the general respect for God’s moral laws, but that respect for His law hinges on the people’s fear of God Himself. If a society refuses to fear God and unhinges itself from obedience to His laws, then that society is, in effect, removing the lynchpin to an objective moral standard. The result will be a society that deifies human reason, glorifies human wisdom, and justifies human depravity.

In many ways, this truth describes the current conditions in our country. How so?

The biggest problem in our country is not social, political, moral, or racial divide. These are all symptoms of a bigger battle, that of the prevailing worldview that we choose to follow as a society. Will it be the biblical worldview that has grounded our nation and Western Civilization for four centuries, or will it be the worldview of secular humanism that puts man on a pedestal and legalizes his baser instincts? If we abandon God, our society will be unhinged, and we will continue to be bombarded with every vile and degrading practice that men can invent.

BiAY.org | Day 327 — 38 Days to Go